Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

All of us have been very interested in the disastrous headlines for the Queensland Labor government on the health crisis engulfing that state, but I would like to bring to the attention of the Main Committee this morning a positive development in the Queensland health crisis. We have all seen the countless newspaper articles and television stories about the horrid situation in Queensland with regard to the Labor government’s handling of health and hospitals. There really has not been an electorate in the entire state which has not been hurt in some way by the ongoing Beattie government debacles, particularly in the area of health. My own federal electorate of Fisher, based on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, is no different.

The people of Sippy Downs, in my electorate, have been played for fools by the Beattie Labor government. The former health minister, Gordon Nuttall, announced in 2005 that a block of land in Sippy Downs had been approved as a site for a new hospital. That announcement was later retracted by the new Minister for Health, Stephen Robertson, in December. The situation was rife with anxiousness and confusion as residents of this growing suburb were left bewildered as to whether they would or would not get the hospital. It was initially supposed to go not far from the University of the Sunshine Coast, a progressive and valuable asset to my electorate, and was to be used to provide tertiary training for health practitioners. Minister Robertson said the site was too small for the proposed hospital. The on-again, off-again project left residents feeling like yo-yos.

The local Labor Party state member, Chris Cummins, fell noticeably silent for much of the debate. Thankfully, of course, the coalition has a sensible, mature and hardworking replacement for the ineffectual Chris Cummins. Liberal Party candidate Councillor Steve Dickson of the Maroochy Shire Council has proven himself in local government and in business to be a high achiever who has the maturity and sense to listen to his constituents and get things done.

We have now learnt that Queensland’s Crime and Misconduct Commission has been investigating the whole Sippy Downs hospital saga. The CMC is investigating the initial decision to choose this site. This investigation is what the people of Sippy Downs and the Sunshine Coast deserve, and it is a good development in the area of Queensland health. The CMC’s concern is that the land in the area in question is being developed by a Labor Party mate, Mr Bruce McDiarmid. The site last year was lauded by Mr Chris Cummins as well as Noosa MP Cate Molloy, who was recently disendorsed by the Labor Party over a separate questionable issue, the Traveston Dam. An article in today’s Courier Mail quotes Peter Beattie as saying, at the announcement last year:

This is a great day for Queensland Health and most especially for the people of the Sunshine Coast ...

If that was a great day, given subsequent developments, I would certainly hate to see a bad one.

People right across Queensland, right across my electorate, have recognised strongly the failings of the Beattie government. The Sippy Downs hospital lie is just one of them. The state election is coming. It is important that the government be changed, and it is important that the Queensland Liberal and National Party coalition be elected to Queensland’s state government. (Time expired)