LABOR has committed $270 million to a new hospital for Goulburn just weeks after candidate Ursula Stephens vowed no promises.
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After describing the Liberals’ earlier $120m commitment to a hospital upgrade as “fairy dust”, she told a candidates forum she would not be buying people’s vote.
But yesterday Opposition leader Luke Foley announced the allocation in a bus tour stop to the city.
It came amid Labor claims of a much tighter Liberal margin in the seat than the notional 26.7pc.
Liberal candidate Pru Goward described the funding as “last minute fairy dust” and “desperation”.
The $270m, part of a $1.7 billion Labor allocation to hospitals, will include $20m for greenfield site acquisition and planning. It will include an emergency department, consolidation of services such as medical, surgical, paediatrics, intensive care, gastroenterology, psychiatric and rehabilitation.
A final decision on design and funding would be made following planning and consultation with the community and medical staff. The facility would also remain a teaching hospital.
Work is expected to start in the next term. No site has been identified yet but Dr Stephens has said she preferred somewhere close to aged services.
She revealed she had been working with Opposition Health spokesman Walt Secord for 10 weeks on the plan.
Asked whether this was vote buying just a few days out from the election, Dr Stephens said:
“I appreciate that there is healthy cynicism about it but at the end of the day I had to work very hard to get it across the line.
“We’ll see what happens on Saturday. People will determine whether it’s cynical but the bottom line is that after Saturday, whether Labor or Liberal is elected in this seat, Goulburn will get a better hospital. It has focused attention on us.”
Dr Stephens defended the late announcement, saying Labor didn’t have access to Health Infrastructure figures and had to do its own costings and then have it passed by the shadow budgetary committee.
“That’s what’s taken so long (but) I have kept hammering because I knew $120m wasn’t enough and they came good,” she said.
Dr Stephens previously criticised the Liberals Pru Goward for announcing the $120m funding before completion of a business plan on the hospital’s upgrade.
But yesterday she defended the very same action by her party, saying it gave Health Infrastructure a clear signal it didn’t have to limit its options to the current site. The preliminary business plan is expected in June.
She said she had firstly consulted with health bureaucrats and hospital nursing and medical staff.
Mr Foley branded the hospital as ancient and incapable of being upgraded on the current site. A draft clinical services plan has also documented its limitations.
He rejected suggestions the announcement was sprinkling ‘fairy dust’, saying it was part of the $1.7 billion allocation to hospitals out of its ‘Better Way’ infrastructure plan.
“The Southern NSW Health District has reported on growing health needs and it has said this site probably won’t deliver what’s needed,” he said.
“I don’t need to sprinkle fairy dust because I’ve got $1.7bn on table to build the hospitals of tomorrow. So we can make a $270m commitment to Goulburn, which is fully costed and funded.”
He said six weeks ago Labor submitted an extra $10.05bn in infrastructure funding to the parliamentary budget office for costing, $1.7bn of which was for hospitals.
Labor has trumpeted the fact that the money is not dependent on lease of electricity poles and wires.
Dr Stephens said while the state government had existing land near Mulwaree High School and the Police College, she wouldn’t preempt a site.
She argued it could be developed in stages, transitioning from the current spot.
“We know from Infrastructure NSW the (existing) hospital cannot be redeveloped into the one that Goulburn needs,” she said.
“We need a greenfield site and we need a fit for purpose hospital that will bring together the very disparate health services in our community and that’s why I’m so thrilled.. We believe this is the hospital Goulburn deserves.”