HOSPITAL FUNDING PROMISE A GREAT START

Today’s Cairns University Hospital $20m funding announcement by the LNP is a win for the people of the region. Queensland Labor has already committed $1.5m for a preliminary business case and $15m to buy the land for the project.

Now, whichever party wins the state election on October 31, locked-in funding commitments mean a good foundation has been laid for the progress of a critical health initiative for the people of the Far North.

State of the art facilities at a tertiary-level research, education and innovation precinct will have enormous health, job and economic benefits for the entire region – not just Cairns but all through the Far North, Cape York, the Torres Strait and beyond.

While the LNP funding pledge has trumped the state government by promising $5m for a business case compared to Labor’s $1.5m, both main parties have yet to lock in a plan to roll out the full $165m necessary to construct the facility.

It is an important and welcome start for the project, but it is just a start.

If the Cairns University Hospital is not operational by 2025, the health, education and employment prospects of thousands of Far North Queenslanders, already cruelled by COVID-19, will pay the price.

If nothing is done, hospital capacity will fall 70 beds short within two years.

With both major parties at least initially backing the work on a Cairns University Hospital, the issue ceases to be a political football. It also means Far North Queenslanders can cast their vote on polling day, reassured that there is at least common ground on this key issue.

A petition, led by the Cairns Post, has delivered a strong message from the region to Queensland parliament about the need for a university hospital. It is encouraging to know that our pollies have understood the strength of feeling.