Health, healing always better than alternative - cuts

Alot has changed since I was a kid growing up on the Gold Coast when Southport was our major hospital. Our Uni Hospital commenced a decade ago, the Robina Hospital was expanded in 2012 but then progress stopped under the Newman Government.

With population growth booming one of my key priorities from day one was to ensure our city secured the health funding our community needs.

That’s why at the last election I promised we would build a new Secure Mental Health Rehabilitation Unit on the Gold Coast and on Friday we marked the start of work on this $122.7 million, 40-bed project at the Gold Coast University Hospital.

This is one of a number of projects to expand both of our public hospitals, build a new satellite hospital in Tugun as well as a new 404 bed hospital in Coomera.

What this health investment will deliver is an extra 648 beds and world-class healthcare services closer to the homes of all Gold Coasters.

Not only are we delivering the infrastructure needed for a growing city we are also investing in the frontline. Since the Palaszczuk Government was elected we’ve employed an extra 3077 health and hospital staff on the Gold Coast which means more doctors, nurses, paramedics and allied health professionals.

In fact, since coming to Government we’ve increased the Gold Coast Health and Hospitals budget by over 80 per cent for our booming city.

We aren’t stopping there either because in this term of Government we’ve committed to employing 9457 more health staff across Queensland which is double what the LNP committed to at the last election.

This commitment to the Gold Coast contrasts starkly with the complacent approach to local health care by the LNP who believe they don’t need to do much for our city due to the safe seats they hold here.

So complacent that leading LNP Gold Coast LNP MPS Ros Bates and David Crisafulli refused to commit any funding to build new health infrastructure on the Gold Coast only at the last election.

Their lack of commitment to Gold Coast health services speaks much louder than their regular sniping about the pressure on our health system here and health systems across the nation from the pandemic and its aftermath.

That is consistent with their longerterm record when both Crisafulli and Bates sat around Campbell Newman’s cabinet table sacking 14,000 public servants including 4400 health staff including 1800 nurses and midwives, and $1.6 billion cut from Health in their first Budget.

It’s easy to whinge and whine but harder to implement solutions.

That’s why on the Gold Coast, the Palaszczuk Government is delivering a 114 bed expansion at Robina Hospital, the Robina Hospital Emergency Department Expansion, three new wards with 70 extra beds at the GC University Hospital, a redevelopment of Southport Ambulance Station, a new Ormeau Ambulance Station.

The quality of our new health infrastructure is a huge evolution from the reliable but antiquated old Southport Hospital.

We haven’t got time to waste to fund and build the healthcare our community needs.

Talk and cuts are cheap but actions always speaks louder than words.