Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

Can I say at the outset that the priority is ensuring that we have continuity of services for people who have been using the services provided by the Western Sydney AMS. It is very clear that this service has been in some difficulty, and it has been a considerable period of time that that difficulty has been experienced by this service. Of course, the government does not like taking steps such as we have needed to take in this particular instance, but let me be clear that the Western Sydney AMS is in significant debt and has been for some time. In fact, the organisation has been trading insolvent since June 2013.

This government takes the economic responsibility of the organisations that are providing these services very, very seriously. On 5 August the creditors, including the staff, voted in favour of liquidating the organisation. This government has been working very closely with the Ministry of Health in New South Wales, with the local health district and with colleagues from both sides of parliament to ensure that there is a way forward that is going to enable the patients who have been using this service to continue accessing these services. We are very cognisant of the fact that retaining the facilities and the building itself will be very important for ensuring that those services are continued. This government takes economic responsibility very seriously, and that extends to services that we fund. That is why the steps have been taken in this case.