Arabic version: ضغوط على الائتلاف بشأن فجوة الوعود الخاصة بالمستشفيات الإقليمية
According to ABC News, Victoria’s Coalition has been asked to explain why it pledged a new $850 million hospital for Drouin in West Gippsland while committing $180 million to redevelop Mildura Base Public Hospital if elected in November.
The Liberal and National parties announced the Drouin proposal this week. Their Mildura commitment, announced in June by Opposition Leader Jess Wilson, would fund a 30-bed acute ward and add 18 beds to the emergency department. Before the 2022 state election, the Coalition under then-leader Matthew Guy had promised a new $750 million Mildura Base Public Hospital.
Build the Base, a Mildura community campaign group seeking a new or redeveloped hospital, questioned the difference between the proposals. Vice-president Stephen Parr called the West Gippsland commitment “a bit of a slap in the face”, saying Mildura was one of the state’s most remote hospitals and dealt with more complex and acute cases because there was no other public hospital nearby.
Nationals MP for Mildura Jade Benham said there was “simply less money” available than in 2022. She said the community’s needs had not changed and its population continued to grow, while innovation and changes by hospital management and the board had enabled change to be delivered quickly. Ms Wilson said election commitments were “not static” and circumstances changed.
Asked about the different funding amounts and the decision to promise a redevelopment in Mildura rather than a new hospital, a Coalition spokesperson criticised Build the Base president and former Mildura member Ali Cupper. Ms Cupper said the group would repeat its question about how the Coalition could justify a new hospital for Gippsland while abandoning its earlier Mildura promise.
The Victorian Labor government allocated $2 million for a Mildura hospital master plan in the 2021–22 State Budget, but has not publicly released it or made a financial commitment to a new hospital or redevelopment. West Gippsland Hospital received planning and development funding in the 2023 Victorian budget through a $320 million fund for seven major hospital projects.
