Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At the last election, or during the campaign, the member for Braddon and I went to Queenstown in support of Queenstown's West Coast Council to make a commitment of $3 million to support the expansion of the West Coast District Hospital for four additional aged-care beds. It has been an issue that the West Coast Council and community had been chasing for a period of time. In fact, my colleagues opposite had been chasing us on behalf of the West Coast Council. Those four additional aged-care beds remain important for the community on the west coast of Tasmania.

The then opposition, now government, didn't match the $3 million commitment that we made at the time, but I'm urging them to step up and support the Tasmanian government and the Queenstown community to achieve those four additional aged-care beds. The funding is available. The money is there. The coalition put it in the budget before the last election. It has been budgeted for. It would be very easy for Labor to step up and support the West Coast Council, the Tasmanian government, the Queenstown community and those who want to age in their communities on the west coast of Tasmania. It would be very easy for the government to step up and support this project. It's an important one. The Queenstown community deserves it. It's still a priority of the West Coast Council. It's something that the Tasmanian government is happy to facilitate, and all it needs is for the new government to allocate some of the funding that we all know is there to support the Queenstown community to get those extra—

Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Colbeck. Senator O'Neill.