WA Liberals have committed to build the new Women and Babies Hospital at the QEII Medical Centre site in Nedlands.
Leader Libby Mettam used her party’s State Conference to announce a Liberal Government would commence construction of the hospital at the QEII site in its first term.
“It is our once-in-a-generation opportunity to ensure we have these world-class facilities,” she said.
“The government won’t listen to the experts, but I will. Our Liberal team will.
“We know it won’t be an easy build. But we know it can be managed. We built a whole children’s hospital on the site while Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital was operating.”
Ms Mettam said the Cook Labor Government’s snap decision to go against decades of planning advice and the pleas of the State’s top clinical experts and move the location of the hospital to Murdoch was audacious and arrogant.
“There have now been three leaked reports from the Labor Government’s own medical experts featuring more than 200 signatories unequivocally stating the move will lead to increased deaths and disability of our state’s most vulnerable – newborn babies and their mothers,” she said.
“Yet the Cook Labor Government ignored all that, said it would be too hard and would take too long. This is rubbish. The business case released by the government highlighted a build time of 10 years with construction finishing in 2033.”
Ms Mettam told the 300 assembled delegates and members the Cook Government did not know how to govern in the best interests of the people of the state.
“Labor was gifted booming surpluses, thanks to a GST distribution fought for by our Liberal State Government and the Federal Liberal team and record iron ore prices, that have nothing to do with the state’s administration,” she said.
“Yet remarkably, Labor has found a way, despite the wealth it has been gifted, to run our state down.”
Ms Mettam said her Liberal team would, in the lead up to the 2025 election, be developing policies to address spiraling cost-of-living pressures, restore confidence in our health system, support police to make our communities safe, alleviate housing pressures, reduce red tape and support regional communities and farmers.
