Mark Speakman accuses me of "not lifting a finger" for Sutherland Hospital (Leader, June 19). Being the relative newcomer to the shire he is, Mr Speakman should at least do his homework.
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Had he done so, he would know that the Carr government built a new accident and emergency department and, during my time as a member of the Labor government, spent $89 million building a new hospital.
We then went on to add cardiac cath labs, stroke and renal dialysis units, as well as community health, coronary, aged care and mental health facilities to make our hospital a comprehensive health campus.
The Cronulla MP also conveniently forgets that I campaigned for a $50 million expansion of our hospital during the Miranda by-election.
Until I did so, the Liberal government had rejected the expansion plans put forward by the doctors and nurses of our hospital's clinical council.
Then, just days out from the October poll, the government announced a miserable $400,000 in planning money for the hospital as a "major pitch to voters" (Leader, October 15, 2013).
Mr Speakman well knows that our precious Sutherland Hospital has now reached capacity. With emergency department attendances expected to double in the next eight years, and with 43,100 more people expected to live the shire over the next 20 years under the Liberals' development plans, the need to expand our hospital and provide more beds is increasingly urgent.
But the Liberal government's latest budget allocates only a lousy $2.2 million to Sutherland Hospital and all the budget papers tell us is that the much-needed expansion is expected to be completed sometime in 2017.
After almost 3½ years under the Liberal government and despite the urgent need to expand its facilities, all we still have is only "planning money" for our precious hospital.
Barry Collier, Miranda MP
