because the people of Devonport, Latrobe, Kentish, Sheffield and Ulverstone deserve their own hospital. They deserve a general hospital suitable for a community of that size. They should not have to go 60 kilometres up the road for any general hospital admission for an acute condition.

The problem is that the Tasmanian government wants to destroy the Mersey hospital, as it has been known, and the Howard government will not let it do this. We have a clear and straightforward plan to preserve the Mersey hospital. The Commonwealth will fund the hospital, the community will control the hospital and the hospital will deliver the range of services that it has safely and effectively delivered for many years at that site.