Albury NSW election candidates square off on hospital in debate

Sustainable Australia Party candidate Ross Hamilton made the comment on Tuesday March 14 at a forum for Albury election candidates.

"I'm currently just finishing off a masters degree in health economics and so I have a little bit of an idea about resource allocation in the health care sector," Mr Hamilton said.

"And all that I can say is that the announced plans are like putting 18-inch alloy wheels on a wheelie bin."

Mr Hamilton said he was fine with not winning the election because he is becoming a father for the first time in six weeks.

"The reason I am running is our hospital, every day Albury Wodonga Health is short 35 to 60 beds that is why we have four-hour ambulance ramping times and that is why we struggle to get staff," he said.

Albury MP Justin Clancy defended the $558 million NSW-Victorian upgrade deal for the hospital, saying it exceeded works funding for Wagga, Dubbo, Shoalhaven, Tamworth, Bathurst, Gosford and Orange hospitals.

"Yes there is Tweed $723 (million) but that also includes an integrated cancer centre, put that around $60, (and) $700 for Shellharbour that included $128 from the federal government," he said.

Mr Clancy noted an Albury Wodonga Health draft master plan stated either a greenfields or brownfields were viable options to improve clinical services.

He also quoted a community letter from the Border Medical Association stating "the reality is that we need a completely new hospital either at the current site or a new one".

"We have $558 million, one of the largest investments outside metropolitan Sydney....we will continue to push forward," Mr Clancy said.

In reply to the MP, Labor candidate Marcus Rowland said there had still not been detail provided on the number of beds, the emergency department size and staffing levels to accompany an expanded Albury hospital.

Greens candidate Eli Davern raised a similar point.

"We need to first discuss how we're going to look after our health care workers because they are suffering, they are quitting in droves," Mr Davern said.

"A new hospital will mean nothing if we don't have the nurses and midwifes and the paramedics and staff."

Shooters, Fishers and Farmers candidate Peter Sinclair said he would like to see Albury's public, private and Mercy hospitals all upgraded to provide treatment and encourage competition.

The forum at Regent Cinemas also covered business concerns, the housing shortage and growth initiatives.

IN OTHER NEWS

Mr Sinclair called for the reopening of Holbrook's sawmill and suggested the old DSI factory at Lavington could be used for lithium battery recycling and also had a left-field idea for the former Norske Skog newsprint mill.

"There's something like a million and half Asians in Australia now and they all eat rice paper rolls, so why can't we, instead of making this sort of paper, make rice paper rolls?" he asked while heading an A4 sheet.

"It would take very little changes to the existing equipment to do things like that."

Mr Davern said firms such as "Target, Kmart" were running small enterprises out of town and the Greens wanted to challenge monopolies.

He said North Albury's Mate Street shopping strip "almost lies dormant" because of such action.

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