$25M BOOSTER TO OUR UNI HOSPITAL GOAL
Morrison flies in for Cairns visit
SCOTT Morrison has delivered a missing piece of the Cairns University Hospital puzzle as new details reveal the project could be even bigger than anticipated.
Mr Morrison unveiled a $25m plan to dedicate 20 new Commonwealth-supported medical university placements for Cairns, on top of 80 placements already assigned to a competitive bidding process across the country. It means Cairns would be guaranteed the funds required to train 20 doctors through all six years of their studies – and the opportunity to bid for more spots. The pressure is now on Labor to match the pledge.
SCOTT Morrison has delivered a missing piece of the Cairns University Hospital puzzle as new details reveal the project could be even bigger than anticipated.
The Prime Minister flew into Cairns on Monday, first stop a senior citizens’ afternoon tea to spruik the Coalition’s incentive plan to encourage older Australians to downsize their homes.
His big announcement was yet to come.
Mr Morrison unveiled a $25m plan to dedicate 20 new Commonwealth-supported medical university placements for Cairns, on top of 80 placements already assigned to a competitive bidding process across the country.
It means Cairns would be guaranteed the funds required to train 20 doctors through all six years of their studies – and the opportunity to bid for more spots.
“The leadership’s been shown here on the ground and we want to support that leadership with those 20 additional Commonwealth-supported places to make this a great success,” Mr Morrison said. “Warren and I want more people to be making that decision to become a doctor, to become a health professional right here in Cairns.”
The long-awaited commitment came as Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch revealed a major private-sector operator was circling with hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of capital to invest in the project.
He was coy about the mystery player’s identity but said it was working with James Cook University (JCU) to deliver something sensational.
“They’ve already lined up more than 24 specialists that
are going to come into this,” he said.
“We’re talking leverage of more than half-a-billion dollars. Private enterprise is very, very advanced.
“They’re going to put the lion’s share of the money in.”
Labor is yet to commit to government-supported placements for Cairns – a decision that would guarantee the project could go ahead.
The state government refuses to publish its preliminary business case for the Cairns Health Innovation Centre (CHIC) component of the project despite its completion in October last year, citing commercial-in-confidence reasons.
“The Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service (CHHHS) has since received approval from the department to progress with a detailed business case,” a CHHHS spokesman said.
The Cairns Post has championed the project through its Operation 2025 campaign that launched two years ago.
JCU Cairns campus director David Craig celebrated the win and hoped Labor would at least match it.
“We can’t enrol domestic students without those Commonwealth-support placements,” he said.
“For JCU, our graduates are six times more likely to stay in the regions than any other university in the country. There’s a pretty compelling argument about why we should get these places.”