Regan’s bill passes lower house of Parliament
A bill by Wakehurst MP Michael Regan to minimise the profits of Healthscope when it hands back the public part of Northern Beaches Hospital (NBH) has been passed with no objections in the lower house of NSW Parliament.
The independent introduced his private member Northern Beaches Hospital (Voluntary Contract Termination) Bill 2025 on 8 May to remove the compensation payable by the NSW Government if the contract is terminated voluntarily, as is the case now.
The government has amended Mr Regan’s bill so that it can terminate the public private partnership (PPP) if a ‘default’ has occurred, allowing compensation but no ‘windfall gain.’
“Healthscope was keen to publicise their hand back offer, but now appear to be stalling because they want a golden handshake worth hundreds of millions of dollars on their way out the door,” Mr Regan said. “The government needs the powers to end the impasse if needed.”
Negotiations between Healthscope and the government started two months ago, and Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said an ‘agreed exit’ was preferable. The government would debate Mr Regan’s bill ‘following the appointment of receivers to the parent entities of Healthscope, which the NSW Government considers a default under the contract.’
“The government must be able to act decisively to avoid a prolonged dispute for members of the Northern Beaches community, staff working at the hospital and for NSW taxpayers,” a government statement said. “If a mutual agreement is not reached, the proposed amendments would give the health minister the power to issue a termination notice to Healthscope. In addition, the treasurer would have the power to ensure that compensation negotiations occur in a reasonable time frame and to appoint an independent person to determine compensation if agreement cannot be reached.”
Receivers McGrathNicol told PL that it ‘continues to engage in constructive discussions with the government over the future of NBH.’
A Healthscope spokesperson added: “Healthscope has been clear from the start that it has no intention of seeking any ‘windfall gain’ from this process. While these discussions continue, the team at NBH remain 100 per cent focussed on continuing to deliver outstanding care for their patients.”
At the time of writing, the bill was set to go through the upper house of Parliament. It will then become law.