Funding for services and staffing at the Redland Hospital should be a priority for the Morrison government after it announced a $1.25 billion fund for health care projects last week, says Capalaba MP Don Brown.
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State Redlands MP Kim Richards and Mr Brown have called on Bowman federal MP Andrew Laming to make sure Redlands gets its fair share of funding from the federal announcement.
“If Andrew Laming is serious about the healthcare of people in Redlands he will tell (PM) Scott Morrison Redlands needs proper federal funding to keep up with demand,” Ms Richards said.
“It’s unclear yet exactly what projects Scott Morrison intends to spend this money on but I expect our federal member to demand Redlands gets its fair share.
“I’m sick of this federal LNP government short-changing Redlands with over $52.7 million in cuts to our hospitals in the MetroSouth Hospital and Health Service.”
Mr Laming hit back, saying Mr Brown and Ms Richards should say why they had cut $39 million from Redland Hospital.
He said the federal government had increased funding by $83 million to nearly $670 million in 2017-18 and the $1.25 billion extra committed at COAG last week would go to “state governments, community groups, health and hospital services and research institutions to provide specialist services”.
Mr Laming said Labor MPs cutting with one hand and begging with the other were hardly going to be trusted to invest competently at Redlands.
Mr Brown said the state government had provided a record state budget to MetroSouth – under which Redlands operated, – of $2.4 billion for the 2018/2019 financial year.
“The Palaszczuk government is investing in health infrastructure at Redland Hospital, expanding the Emergency Department, upgrading maternity services and planning for extra hospital car parks,” he said.
“Our local hospital does an amazing job of taking care of us when we’re sick but we’re also seeing higher demand than ever before, well above population growth.
“If Andrew Laming has any sway in Canberra at all he will make sure the Redland Hospital gets top priority for funding.”
Mr Laming said the Queensland government had to explain why it would not reveal the exact funding for Redland Hospital, rather than hiding the details behind MetroSouth figures.
The government also needed to explain why it proposed a year-long study on how to fix hospital car parking when it needed fixing now.
Local MPs also should explain why they would not meet him for a debate on these issues.
