#Perth Children’s Hospital delay sets stage for epic legal battle with builder John Holland

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Perth Children’s Hospital delay sets stage for epic legal battle with builder John Holland

The WA Government is bracing itself for a lengthy legal battle in its bid to recoup millions of dollars from the head contractor of the Perth Children’s Hospital (PCH) over long delays to the project.

Treasurer Ben Wyatt today warned the Government’s legal dispute with head PCH contractor John Holland would not be resolved any time soon, but hoped it would ultimately be settled out of court.

The hospital will not open until the first half of 2018 at the earliest, putting it more than two years behind schedule.

It is costing the state $6 million for each month the hospital remains empty, but Mr Wyatt said he was “fairly optimistic” much of those costs could be recovered.

Two years and counting

Perth’s sick children are still waiting to get access to the $1.2-billion Perth Children’s Hospital, with no opening date in sight. So how did we get here?

“A lot of the delays have been due to John Holland but no doubt they will have different views along the way,” Mr Wyatt said.

“The legal dispute will go on for a while … it is large and involves a range of different things.

“My hope is that in due course it won’t end up in a long court hearing and hopefully some sort of settlement is entered into.”

Mr Wyatt indicated the legal dispute would not be resolved until the hospital opened.

Source: Perth Children’s Hospital delay sets stage for epic legal battle with builder John Holland – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

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