The Independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie, criticises the Tasmanian State Government over the continuing delays to the redevelopment of the Royal Hobart Hospital.
“Deputy Speaker I rise to express my great disappointment with the ongoing delays plaguing the Royal Hobart Hospital redevelopment.
“Deputy Speaker the State Government has made deep cuts to Tasmania’s struggling public health system with often dire consequences. Front-line staff have been fired, wards shut down and waiting lists remain shockingly long.
“That’s why so crucial are the $340m towards the rebuild I negotiated after the 2010 federal election, and the $325m cash injection I secured for the health system more broadly. Without these funds Tasmania’s public health system would be in complete crisis.
“And that’s why the continuing delay in the Hospital redevelopment is so hard to stomach. Yes, the Hospital redevelopment is a big and complicated project. And yes, it will take time to put it together properly and some delay is understandable. But the extent of the delay, 18 months according to the original proposal to the Health and Hospitals Fund, is proof that “State Government is not doing everything in its power to get this job done as quickly as possible.
“Deputy Speaker a crucial dimension of the Hospital redevelopment is the jobs it’ll generate. In fact this is one of the most significant infrastructure projects in Tasmania’s history and it will provide a significant stimulus to the local economy, especially in the construction sector which is winding up other projects and desperate to move workers to new work.
“And it’s not just the construction sector in for stimulus because the hospital redevelopment and cash injection for Tasmanian health will employ many clinicians and health researchers, a boost all the more important considering the Federal Government’s tertiary education cuts will cost 150 jobs at the University of Tasmania.
“Speaker I simply cannot fathom the news this week that the Tasmanian Government’s latest budget shows that $114m earmarked for the Hospital redevelopment this year won’t be spent when the project is of such importance, and when so much time has already passed since funding became available.
“In fact the State Government received the first $100m for the redevelopment just after the 2010 federal election and another payment of $170m not all that long afterwards.
“Deputy Speaker the Tasmanian Health Minister says that delivering the best result, and in particular consulting with clinicians, has caused the delay. But the truth is that just about everything the Tasmanian State Government touches moves at a glacial pace.
“Deputy Speaker there’s no doubt the Royal Hobart Hospital redevelopment will happen. But given the urgent need for better health care and the availability of full funding for the project, the State Government is betraying those Tasmanians who can least afford to wait.”
