Member for New England, Tony Windsor has lodged a Freedom of Information request in the hope of shedding light on the derailing of Armidale Hospital’s redevelopment.
Mr Windsor’s negotiations with the Prime Minister after the last election delivered a boost in funding for country areas, but he says evidence suggests the New South Wales Coalition government prevented a project in his own electorate from applying for this new funding.
“It appears that NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner blocked an application for federal funding to redevelop Armidale Hospital – and then misled state parliament about it.
“Ms Skinner told NSW parliament federal authorities didn’t give Armidale Hospital a chance to resubmit an application in the final funding round – but she hasn’t produced any evidence to support her story.
“In fact, there were no restrictions on submissions and the Commonwealth says no such statements were ever made.
“Indeed, if there is evidence that federal authorities denied Armidale Hospital’s application, it could potentially void that entire round of funding.
“Hunter New England Health identified the Armidale Hospital redevelopment as the top priority in the area, yet Ms Skinner failed to submit this recommendation for funding, and then she tried to cover herself by blaming federal authorities – but so far all the evidence leads back to her.”
Mr Windsor has lodged an FOI request for any emails or written correspondence between the Hunter New England Local Area Health Network, the NSW government, the Federal government and the Health and Hospitals Fund Advisory Board that concern the application for federal funds for the redevelopment of Armidale Hospital under Rounds 3 and 4 of the Regional Priority Round of the Health and Hospitals Fund.
The $1.8 billion Regional Priority Round of the Health and Hospitals Fund was part of the huge increase in funding for country areas that was delivered through Mr Windsor’s agreement with the Prime Minister after the last election.
The final round received more than 200 applications for funding, with 38 projects submitted in New South Wales alone.
Mr Windsor says this is an important issue for the New England and local people deserve to understand why their hospital redevelopment was blocked from applying for federal funds.
“Hopefully, this FOI request will unveil the truth about the NSW government’s behaviour in this matter,” Mr Windsor concluded.
