00:00Thank you for that. Minister, I appreciate what you're saying about the
00:03complexity of the PPP. This committee knows it well, having done the inquiry,
00:06we've handed down the recommendations. A very simple question to you, are you
00:10going to terminate the PPP? What is the government actually going to do? Because
00:13people in Newcastle and staff and patients are fed up, you know that, we
00:17know that. I think the time for talk is fast running out. What is the
00:22government actually going to do here about this hospital and what's happening?
00:24So a couple of things. It's a good and fair question for a start on behalf of
00:29the people of the Hunter region. We've made a number of interventions into the
00:34contract already, so I don't want people to think we're sitting still and idling
00:38time. We've done the cladding and done a range of other issues in terms of trying
00:44to intervene in that. Two, government is at the moment working through with the
00:51private operator the options around and having, taking legal advice around our
00:58options in relation to that contract. I'm not in a position today to say
01:03government has made a decision on that because they haven't and that'll be a
01:08part of a cabinet process, a future cabinet process, if that is the
01:15pathway that we determine or go down. Firstly, I've got to look at a number of
01:20things. The delivery of services safely and efficiently is a top priority and when
01:28I say safe and efficiently, I mean safe and efficiently for staff, patients and
01:32visitors. Secondly, I've got a responsibility as a cabinet minister to be
01:38responsible around the use of taxpayers money. So I can't just hand this over.
01:44What I won't do is do what the opposition made out I should do, which is allegedly buy
01:51this back for $2. Now that is completely wrong. The liabilities on the state, if we
02:00did that, would be tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars. So we are working
02:05through a complex piece of contractual arrangements. I'm not in a position yet
02:11because I've not been advised yet of what those options are going forward. Once I
02:16do get that and I make a pathway through the cabinet and ERC process, subject to
02:22what happens there is when we will inform the community of a way forward. But this
02:26is not complex. This is not easy. I know it's frustrating. I get that. I'm trying to
02:32intervene as much as I can on the way through, but we're not in a position today
02:37to determine and to announce what pathway that the government is going to do in
02:42relation to this because I just don't have that information in front of me.
02:46Thanks, Minister.
