Media release
Federal Member for Fairfax Clive Palmer today said he had received a letter from the Queensland government stating the Gold Coast Hospital at Southport would be demolished and sold to developers, despite his offer to buy to keep it open.
“This is a very sad day for Queensland,” Mr Palmer said. “I was prepared to look at buying this hospital and keep it open because there is shortage of beds on the Gold Coast.
“It is my understanding that there are as few as 400 beds available now in Southport.
“We are coming into peak holiday season and the Gold Coast is the seventh largest city in the country yet we’ve got less hospital beds that we did last year.”
Mr Palmer said that any developer buying the land from the Queensland government would have it confiscated without compensation when the Palmer United Party wins the next state election.
“For a government that just wants to sell assets, rape and pillage from the state and cut services I’ve got a warning,” Mr Palmer said.
“We are going to stand strong at the next election and a major focus will be on health. This government has an appalling record with sacking front line staff and now selling hospitals to developers which I’m sure lobbyists are getting commissions on.”
Mr Palmer said that LNP politicians on the Gold Coast were not standing up for their community with LNP State Member for Southport Rob Molhoek being the first MP since federation to hail the demolition of a much needed hospital in his own electorate.
“They’ve got such a majority they couldn’t care,” Mr Palmer said. “There is just no interest in doing their job of representing their constituents.”
Mr Palmer said it was a sad indictment of the Newman Government that Nambour Hospital patients on the Sunshine Coast faced amongst the longest waiting times for surgery in Queensland.
A recent report by the National Health Performance Authority gave Nambour Hospital an ailing review, with just 79% of its surgeries for breast cancer completed within 30 days, far slower than other Queensland hospitals.
ENDS