Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I hope the people of north-west Tasmania are listening to the caterwauling from members opposite. If the members opposite have something to say to those people, let them say it and not cackle like hyenas in this parliament. Let me say to the people of Devonport, La Trobe, Kentish, Sheffield and Ulverstone that they deserve a comprehensive general hospital that delivers services suitable for a catchment of that size. The situation is very simple. The state Labor government wants to destroy Mersey hospital as it has been known, and the Commonwealth government wants to save it. The state government says that it has a plan for hospital services in the north-west. It is true; it has produced hundreds of pages of paper. It has not committed a single dollar—and, without a dollar, its plan is not worth the paper that it is written on.

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