THE Victorian Liberal candidate for Mildura Paul Matheson has backed his party’s ability to fund its health promises, amid speculation it has not been properly costed.
But Mildura MP Ali Cupper has said the Coalition’s promises are based on funding that doesn’t exist, and it needs to come clean with the people of Victoria.
The Opposition has made health a priority ahead of the November 26 election, promising to build and redevelop hospitals in Melbourne and regional Victoria.
Opposition leader Matthew Guy and deputy leader Peter Walsh have backed its pledges by promising to shelve the $35 billion Cheltenham to Box Hill train line project to spend 25 per cent or $8 billion on health in regional Victoria.
But the state budget in May designated $11.8 billion in state funding for the project as the state government outlined it would seek a matching contribution from the federal government and more funding through private sector investment and value capture sources.
Opposition deputy leader Peter Walsh denied there was any issue with the Coalition’s costings and that it would fulfill its pledge to spend 25 per cent in regional Victoria.
“The government said the project was going to cost $35 billion,” Mr Walsh said. “So, our numbers stand.”
He said there was no problem with how the opposition had arrived at their costings because the government had not told “the truth about their costing”.
Mr Matheson said he was “not worried” about reports about the rail project as the Liberal’s pledge to spend $750 million for a new hospital in Mildura was “fully costed, fully funded”.
He said he was confident the $750 million figure was arrived at accurately following consultation and the opposition would deliver on its promise in its first term in power.
“We work on the information we have at the time,” Mr Matheson said. “These figures are arrived at due to consultation with the stakeholders, the hospital itself, and similar project scopes around the state.
“We’ve committed in this first election that we commit the first stage,” he said. “We will get on with it.”
Ms Cupper said it was “classic big party behaviour” for the opposition to not admit it had made “incorrect” assumptions and that the current situation created “a whole world of confusion” for her and the electorate.
“They’ve made a big assumption in the absence of clear information,” Ms Cupper said. “The idea that it’s fully costed, and therefore they’ve got the money for it, I don’t know how that works out.
“The fundamental problem for us now is … the totality of that funding doesn’t exist. Only a portion of it exists. So, whose project is going to be dropped off the list?”
Ms Cupper said while the community could be “grateful” for the $750 million promise, it was “educated guesswork” and the opposition needed to demonstrate “how things are going to be paid for”.
Industry sources estimate the hospital is likely to cost more than $750 million.
