Senate votes down Matt Canavan's bill to force inquiry into Calvary Hospital ACT government takeover

The Greens and ACT Senator David Pocock joined with Labor to vote down the bill, 32 votes to 26. Crossbench senators Jacqui Lambie and Tammy Tyrrell did not appear to be present for the vote.

The Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government Amendment Bill), put forward by Queensland Liberal National senator Matt Canavan, would have forced the ACT government to hold an inquiry into the controversial Calvary acquisition.

Senator Canavan said the outcome was "disappointing".

"It's disappointing that Canberrans won't get a say on one of the most remarkable abuses of raw government power in Australia's history," he said.

"The nurses, doctors and patients of Calvary deserve better treatment and the ACT government has cynically hidden behind Territory rights to deny the people their rights."

The Canberra Times revealed this week that the ACT's cabinet signed off on the start of work to draft a law to compulsorily acquire Calvary Public Hospital Bruce almost a year before the government announced the takeover.

Senator Canavan alleged that these findings were inconsistent with information provided to the Senate, and vowed to continue investigating the situation.

"Our brief Senate inquiry raised more questions about what exactly the ACT government has been up to over the past year," he said.

"Revelations in The Canberra Times this week revealed that the government had been secretly planning its takeover for almost a year even though the Health Minister told the Senate they only started drafting the legislation in March.

"These two bits of evidence seem inconsistent and I plan to take this up further to investigate whether the Senate has been misled."

ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith has denied she misled the committee, saying the actual drafting of the legislation did not begin until March.

"Legislation had not commenced being drafted, as I have advised and as I advised the Senate committee," she told the Assembly.

"I was asked a specific question: when did drafting of the legislation commence? Drafting of the legislation commenced in March 2023."

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A ministerial briefing to Ms Stephen-Smith in June last year showed the territory's cabinet had approved work could start on drafting legislation for the acquisition.

"In that brief, obviously, I was advised that legislation had not been drafted, and I was keen to see what legislation would look like," she said.

In a report tabled last week, the Labor-led legal and constitutional affairs legislation committee wrote that Senator Canavan's bill "would undermine the independence" of the territory's legislature.

In additional comments in the report, Senator Pocock echoed concerns that the bill would interfere with the ACT government.

"Ultimately, the decision to hold an inquiry rightfully rests with the ACT Legislative Assembly, as a democratically elected institution and I respect their consideration of my request on behalf of the community members that raised their concerns with me," Senator Pocock wrote.

But members of the opposition, in a dissenting report, "strongly recommended" that the bill pass, raising concerns for the Calvary Hospital takeover.

"It has been marked by an unfortunate absence of consultation, a contrived sense of urgency, a blatant dismissal of significant health system risks, and a concerning indifference to employee rights," they said.

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