RHH: The project well and truly crashed under State Labor …

The Independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie, has provided an update on the rescue of the stalled $565m redevelopment of the Royal Hobart Hospital.

Mr Wilkie will also be available to comment on his push to relocate federal public service jobs from Canberra to Hobart which has caused a storm in the ACT.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/public-service/wilkie-says-canberra-should-no-longer-be-public-service-capital-20140710-zt28q.html

Mr Wilkie is a member of the RHH Rescue Taskforce’s Professional Reference Group which met for the second time yesterday.

“The more I hear the more evident it becomes the project had well and truly crashed under the former state Labor government,’’ Mr Wilkie said.

“We already knew the project was two years behind schedule and through the work of the Professional Reference Group we are understanding exactly why.

“It seems a week does not pass without a report chronicling long waiting lists and failures in the Tasmanian health system so this opportunity to upgrade this vital infrastructure must be grasped.

“We’re talking about the biggest public infrastructure project in Tasmania’s history and it’s important for the community to be assured that the process to rescue the rebuild is indeed progressing.

“I have no doubt the rebuild will be accomplished.’’

The professional reference group also includes Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Tasmania secretary Neroli Ellis, Master Builders Tasmania executive director Michael Kerschbaum and a representative from the Australian Medical Association.

Mr Wilkie secured $340m in federal funds for the RHH redevelopment following the 2010 election and another $325m for the Tasmanian health system in 2012.