Read the article by Professor Jeff Richardson here. australian policy online Put simply, the population of NW Tasmania simply cannot support 2 acute hospitals, one at Burnie and the Mersey Hospital at Devonport.

John Howard and Tony Abbott have consistently misrepresented (all right - lied about!) the situation at the Mersey Hospital. Howard and Abbott claim that the population served by the hospital is 70,000 – it is actually 43,000. Howard and Abbott claim that the Tasmanian government was going to close the hospital – it wasn’t. While surgical services were to be centred at the nearby Burnie Hospital, additional services were to be located at the Mersey Hospital including renal dialysis, rehabilitation, aged care services, and a 24 hour emergency service with high speed ambulance service to Burnie. Howard and Abbott claim that there was no consultation with Devonport residents – there was.

We ask - Where is the report from the Department of Human Services and Aging which justifies this intervention on rational, public policy grounds? Of course there isn’t one – just a PM who will do anything, say anything, spend anything in an attempt to get re-elected, and who is prepared to trash good public policy in the process.