Michael Ferguson (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to blow the lid on the Tasmanian government’s agenda to strip away services from Launceston General Hospital for the benefit of its future ‘Taj Mahal’ of the Royal Hobart Hospital. I am very concerned about a situation which has arisen in my community where the local community, without the help of any government, raised $100,000 to purchase a flow cytometer. This will directly benefit some 40 patients per year who suffer from blood cancers. Not one single extra dollar has been sought from the Tasmanian government. Not one single extra medical specialist is required to operate it. In putting in a purchase order it has been blocked by the Tasmanian government and it has been blocked indeed by the minister’s office. This is a complete disgrace. Having made a public statement yesterday to raise this issue, the Tasmanian government refused to address the claim that I made and instead pressured one of its medical specialists to speak out instead. He made the perverse statement that life-saving equipment at Launceston would put lives at risk, and this was the justification for centralising services in Hobart. It is unacceptable. I am extremely angry about this. My heart goes out to not only those people who rely right now on this life-saving technology but also the whole community, which rallied together in April this year to raise the necessary funds. (Time expired)