By Gavin Coote, Lauren Millar and Melinda Hayter
The Federal Government is being accused of ignoring pleas for a rural medical school in rural New South Wales and Victoria, after it announced a funding commitment for a similar project on the NSW central coast.
The government has announced $32.5 million to fund the Central Coast Medical School, to operate as a branch of the University of Newcastle.
The Charles Sturt and La Trobe universities have been waiting for Commonwealth funding to develop the Murray Darling Medical School, which would have campuses at Orange, Wagga Wagga and Bendigo.
The project missed out on funding in the recent federal budget, despite vocal lobbying from Nationals MPs including the outgoing Member for Calare John Cobb who said it had been his number-one priority.
The CSU vice-chancellor Andrew Vann said he was concerned about the motives behind the latest decision.
“Since then we’ve seen the Government announce a medical school in Perth, there was a strong suspicion that was associated with electoral outcomes in Perth,” Mr Vann said.
“We struggle to understand how it could be worth investing in a medical school that is only an hour away from one that is in Newcastle already, when the problem is with distribution of doctors in regional and rural areas.
“It just doesn’t make sense to us.”
The La Trobe University has also expressed disappointment at the news.
Murray Darling Medical School ‘essential’ for regional Australia
Independent senator Nick Xenophon visited Orange in central west NSW on Monday morning, and joined Mr Vann in expressing disappointment about the decision.
He said the Government had broken an election promise to fund the Murray Darling Medical School.
“The Nationals made a commitment that this medical school would be built here, it’s essential for the community,” Senator Xenophon said.
“It’s quite unusual for a vice-chancellor to be appearing with political candidates during an election campaign.
“This is an issue that goes beyond politics, this goes to the heart to the need to have doctors in the bush, to have doctors in regional communities.
“If you train them here, they’re more likely to stay here once they know the benefits of living in a regional community.”
The Nick Xenophon Team candidate for Calare, Rod Bloomfield, said the funding commitment for Gosford and not regional New South Wales was a “slap in the face” for CSU and central west residents.
“The argument for a rural-based medical school in Orange is absolutely compelling, and I think that Calare has been gutted,” Mr Bloomfield said.
Rural medical school to remain election lobbying issue
Murray Darling Medical School executive director Mark Burdack said he did not understand why another medical school in the city had received a funding commitment.
“I think there’s a lot of dismay in the communities,” he said.
“We’re going into another election without a commitment to a medical school and I think people are looking forward to seeing some resolution of this going into the next election.”
But the Nationals Member for Riverina Michael McCormack said there were other factors at work that helped Gosford secure funding.
“The University of Newcastle has been able to move the places and that is an important component of it,” Mr McCormack said.
“There is also a co-contribution happening up there and that is something that perhaps need to also happen that as well as Government money there could be other finding as well put into establishing such a facility.
“And I appreciate that the vice-chancellor is concerned, I too believe that there should be a medical school and I will continue to lobby for one and I think that CSU would be an ideal university to deliver such a course.”