Hansard debates

                       QUEEN VICTORIA WOMEN'S CENTRE BILL
                                 Second reading

  Mrs WADE (Attorney-General) -- I move:
  That this bill be now read a second time.
This bill honours  the government's commitment to  establish a women's centre on
the site  of  the  old Queen Victoria Women's Hospital and it recognises women's
historic  claims to association with that site. If refurbishment of the existing
building  goes according to plan, we hope to  be  able to open the centre on the
centenary of  the first  steps taken  by women  in 1896 to  establish the  first
Victorian Medical Service specifically for women.

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If we can manage that, it will be a fitting celebration of  the centenary, and a
substantive  demonstration  of  the  government's commitment to the interests of
women.
The  centre  will  have strong historic links with  the  progress  of  women  in
Victoria  over  the  past 100 years,  and  I  expect these links  to  add to the
centre's  attractiveness  as  a  facility for all women in the state. The  first
Queen Victoria Women's Hospital was established in Lonsdale Street in 1898 by Dr
Constance  Stone, with  the help  of the  results  of  the  appeal known  as the
Shilling  Fund.  That  appeal raised 63 250 shillings from the women of Victoria
and  it  was   an  overwhelming  demonstration   of  their  enthusiasm  for  the
establishment of the hospital.  The  hospital  moved to the site at Lonsdale and
Swanston streets in 1949 and operated there  until the  service was moved to the
Monash Medical Centre in 1989.

It was only as a result of pressure from the coalition parties that the previous
government provided for the lease-back of the eastern tower on the hospital site
for  use by  women when  it sold the surrounding land  to developers.  Since the
coalition  came  into government,  we  have provided  for  the better  preserved
central tower to  be used  instead of  the eastern tower, and we have completely
excised the land on which that tower stands  from the sale to developers. As the
government's contribution   to the vision for  the women's centre which has been
developed  by women's organisations,  we will refurbish  the  tower building and
provide start-up costs for the centre.
This bill vests the land in the Queen Victoria Women's Centre  Trust, which is a
statutory  corporation  created  by  the bill.  The  bill defines  the  purpose,
functions and powers of  the  trust,  and they are principally to be responsible
for the management of the centre as  a facility, which will be attractive to all
Victorian women, and to provide services for women within the centre.

Another  important function of the trust is to  act as  a fundraising  body, and
that is listed as one of its functions in the bill. The government's commitments
to retain the land and to refurbish the tower  for use by women have always been
made on the  basis  that the centre  will  operate independently  of  government
funding, so fundraising will therefore  be a vital part of the trust's work. The
necessity to  operate without government  funding  will be one  of  the centre's
greatest strengths, and it is one aspect of the idea  for a centre that has been
very important  to  women's organisations. Our aim is to establish a trust which
is independent of political  pressures and which works solely for the benefit of
Victorian women.
The bill provides that the trust consist of 12 members appointed by the Governor
in  Council  on  the  recommendation  of the  Minister  responsible for  Women's
Affairs. Up to four  members of the trust will be selected from a panel of names
submitted by the Queen Victoria Women's Centre Inc.

, which  is  an organisation that has spent a great  deal  of time and effort in
developing a vision and support for  the  centre.  Members will be appointed for
terms of not more than four years, and the bill provides for the  appointment of
a chairperson and  for vacancies, resignations and removal from office.  It also
provides for the procedure at meetings of the trust and  for the  declaration of
any pecuniary interests by members.
One  of  the most important provisions  in the bill is  one  that I have already
mentioned in passing, which  is  that the bill vests  in the trust the  land  on
which the old hospital tower stands. This not only demonstrates the government's
commitment to the centre but ensures the trust is independent of government.  Of
course,  there  are  the necessary provisions restricting the use of the land to
the purposes of the trust and preventing the sale or mortgage of the land.

As the government will be investing a very substantial amount of public money in
the refurbishment of the  building  and  will  be  vesting the ownership of land
currently owned by the government in the trust, the bill makes provision for the
efficient and responsible  financial management of the  centre by the trust.  It
would not be possible for us to invest public money in the centre, no matter how
worthwhile  the project, unless  we  created a structure  within which the trust
will be able to operate in a financially  responsible manner. The bill gives the
trust borrowing and investment powers, subject to the approval of the Treasurer,
and the responsibility to prepare and act in accordance with a business plan. If
the minister determines that the trust is unable to pay its debts, the trust may
be wound up and the land would revert to the Crown.
The provisions  for financial responsibility  are absolutely necessary. However,
we  have  kept  them  to  a  minimum  because  we  want  the  trust  to  operate
independently, and it will be able to do so.

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Its decisions  as to the uses and management of the centre and as to fundraising
and spending are absolutely its own.  All the government will do  is keep an eye
on its financial position and  step in to wind it up in  the unlikely event that
financial difficulties overcome  it. One of  the  necessary corollaries  of  its
independence from government  is  that we have  purposely made no commitment  to
prop up the trust in the event of financial  problems. That  sort of  commitment
would require a  far greater  degree of  political control than we would wish to
see imposed on the centre.
The bill establishes a trust to run a centre, which will be unique in Australia.
It will be a  centre dedicated to the benefit of women and to the improvement of
their status in our  society. It will be a  place in which women  can congregate
and look for assistance, and we hope it  will become a reference point for women
across the state.

Its  support  by the government  is  entirely consistent with  our objectives to
enhance women's access  to  services  and support and to encourage women to meet
and work to improve  their opportunities and their participation in public  life
and decision-making.
I commend the bill to the house.
Debate adjourned on motion of Ms GARBUTT (Bundoora).
Debate adjourned until Thursday, 24 November.