Archbishop Christopher Prowse warns ACT Calvary Hospital takeover sets ‘precedent’ for other states

Canberra and Goulburn Catholic Archbishop Christopher Prowse has slammed the decision of the ACT government to force a takeover of the Catholic-run Calvary Hospital that he says will give permission to other states to do the same.

Christopher Prowse Archbishop of Canberra pictured at Mary Mackkillop place in Sydney.

Canberra and Goulburn Catholic Archbishop Christopher Prowse has warned the ACT government’s Calvary Hospital takeover could provide a template for compulsory acquisitions in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, declaring the ACT has set “a dangerous and unpredictable precedent”.

The comments follow failed talks with ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith last week, aimed at assuaging concerns from faith groups that the hospital grab was ideologically motivated.

Archbishop Prowse has also taken aim at the federal government, which he says has failed to make progress on religious discrimination laws and instead allowed those of faith to become increasingly marginalised.

“I find myself wondering if I understand the purpose of government in Australia any longer. If the Catholic Church, despite long years of service, is a target for government takeover, who is safe from similar predations?” the archbishop writes in The Australian on Wednesday.

“If this can be done in a matter of weeks in the ACT, what prevents other governments acting to improve integration and efficiency in other jurisdictions? What prevents the Andrews government procuring St Vincent’s Public Hospital Melbourne? The Minns government doing the same to St Vincent’s Public in Sydney or the Palaszczuk government taking over the Mater Public Hospital in Brisbane? What prevents any government making a similar grab for education or welfare services to meet their own agendas?”

The archbishop’s fears follow National Catholic Education Commission executive director Jacinta Collins raising the alarm in The Australian that the ACT government’s move undermined the “pluralism” in community services and brought into question “implications this might have in the future for faith-based schools”.

Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Andrew Barr (AAP Image/Lukas Coch) NO ARCHIVING

ACT chief minister Andrew Barr earlier this month said his government would introduce legislation allowing it to take over the Catholic-run Calvary Hospital and planned to pump $1bn into a new facility that would begin construction as early as 2025.

Members of the faith community and the federal opposition called on Anthony Albanese to intervene in the matter, which they argued constituted religious discrimination.

In an extraordinary intervention, the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, accused the ACT government of an “extreme land-and-assets grab” in pursuit of an “anti-life agenda”.

While the Prime Minister has remained silent on the issue, Labor member for the Canberra seat of Bean David Smith said the ACT government had acted without sufficient consultation.

Archbishop Prowse argues the territory’s haste in announcing the planned takeover has put patients at risk and represents “an experiment being played out in real time with real impact in the lives of real people”.

“It will have substantial impact on the lives of clinicians and other staff; it will challenge their values and their practice,” he said.

Calvary chief executive Martin Bowles met with Ms Stephen-Smith last Thursday, but no meaningful options to resolve the matter had been put on the table.

Ms Stephen-Smith said the ACT government acted because “we believe a single network health system is the best option”.

COMMENTARY P11