Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk says the Newman Government’s plan to sell off one-third of the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital site threaten future expansion opportunities for the state’s biggest health care facility.
“The Treasurer and Health Minister have put the future of the RBWH in the hands of property developers,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“By failing to guarantee the entire site being offered for development will be used only for health facilities, Mr Nicholls and Mr Springborg are failing to guarantee the RBWH will have sufficient room for expansion in the future.
“The Treasurer’s involvement in this project shows the government’s priority is not health care but a grab for money.
“The Treasurer has struggled to avoid admitting the private sector will want to own all or part of the 4.8 hectares of the hospital’s 18-hectare site he is offloading.
“Mr Nicholls talks about private developers renting all or part of the site from the government while investing millions of dollars in new facilities when he knows they are likely to demand outright ownership.”
Ms Palaszczuk said the re-use of existing Royal Children’s Hospital buildings on the site represented just a small part of the 4.8-hectare precinct the Newman Government was offering for development.
“The total area of land being opened up for development includes landmark buildings such as the heritage-listed Lady Lamington House; Lady Norman Wing; and the Edith Cavell Building,” she said.
“It is still not clear what the future will be for the Lady Ramsay Child Care Centre, KidSafe House, Leonard Lodge, the Child and Family Therapy Unit and the Genetic Health Queensland facility which are all covered by Mr Springborg’s sell-off.
“The project site covers almost one-third of the 18-hectare RBWH site which is already land-locked so any loss of land suitable for future health and hospital facilities will drastically affect the future of the RBWH and the University of Queensland’s facilities at the Herston campus.
“This project again highlights the fact the LNP Government is all about sackings and sell-offs and not about building a better public health system.
“Former Labor governments initiated major new hospital projects including the Gold Coast University Hospital; the Queensland Children’s Hospital; and major rebuilding projects for hospitals in major regional centres.
“But in almost two years in office it has not started a single major health infrastructure project.”