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Questions Without Notice Questions without notice are asked of Ministers and answered during Question Time.
Mr LAWLOR: My question without notice is directed to the Minister for Health. In view of the concerns about the long-term future of the existing Gold Coast Hospital at Southport, can the minister please inform the House what steps are being taken to ensure the existing hospital building will, under the new master plan, continue to service the health-care needs of the people of the Gold Coast?
Mr ROBERTSON: I thank the honourable member for the question and acknowledge his ongoing activities in this regard, and other Labor members on the Gold Coast have been very busy in terms of addressing a range of health issues on the Gold Coast. This provides me with another opportunity to once again highlight the dishonesty of the opposition. In this case, it happens to be the member for Currumbin, because she was quoted in Wednesday's Gold Coast Sun as saying--
Now she says--
that is, the member for Currumbin--
the State Government is 'hoodwinking' people into believing it will retain the old hospital once the new one opens.
Basically, the member for Currumbin is alleging that the hospital will close. The short answer to the member for Southport's question is that we plan to continue to provide health services out of the existing Southport facility once the new hospital is completed in approximately 10 years time.
Dr Flegg interjected.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Member for Moggill!
Mr ROBERTSON: However, the kind and level of services need to be determined as part of the master planning process.
Dr Flegg interjected.
Mr SPEAKER: Member for Moggill, I warn you under 253.
Mr ROBERTSON: That is what we have been saying all along. A master planning study is under way to inform the government and Queensland Health what types and levels of health service need to be provided on the Gold Coast, not just for the next five years or 10 years but 15 and 20 years as well. This information will be used to inform the planning for the design and function of the new hospital. Because the planning is still under way, it is too early to comment in detail on the types of services that may remain at the existing Southport campus. That is currently being discussed by the experts, by the people who should be discussing these issues--senior clinicians and administrators on the Gold Coast. This includes consideration of safety in the provision of care, the need to increase the capacity of some services to meet the increasing needs of the community, and the provision of services in an efficient and sensible way.
I have, I hope, provided the level of certainty the people of the Gold Coast want with respect to the future of the Southport Hospital site. I noted the call by the member for Surfers Paradise for a bipartisan approach to be taken with respect to health planning on the Gold Coast in the House just this morning. The secret to adopting a bipartisan approach is to stop telling untruths. He should stop bringing down confidence in his own local health system. Be positive and those opposite will be brought on board every day of the week. That is the simple answer. That is the simple answer, member for Surfers Paradise, to your call this morning.
While I have the opportunity, we have yet again caught the opposition out with gross distortions again here this morning tabling this document, as the member for Callide did. No doubt his spin doctors are probably up in the gallery at the moment saying that this proves that there has been a 132 per cent increase in District Wide Corporate Services. I encourage the media to read the whole document, because if they do--in fact, the paragraph up the top--it says that there has been a 132.8 per cent increase in District Wide Corporate Services--
Time expired. Last changed: [PUBLISHED_DATE] at 4:12 PM
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