Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Bass for his question. I had the opportunity in the week after the budget to go down to the Launceston General Hospital with him, and what we saw there was an investment from a previous budget for significant expansion in a wonderful new facility.

The member for Gippsland says he could have answered the question that the member for Bass asked. That is probably true. But what his government never did was to fund it in the way we have funded it. What we have had to do in the last three years and now into this term is to overcome a decade of neglect of our ageing hospital infrastructure. The member for Gippsland would also be aware that in this budget alone there are important new medical facilities in Timboon and Bairnsdale in his electorate. There were 63 projects announced in this budget.

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