Recently I made a Freedom of Information request to Health Minister Mark Butler’s office, asking for documents related to the redevelopment of Albury Base Hospital and/or infrastructure at Albury Wodonga Health, including correspondence and briefing notes.  

In making this request, I wasn’t hoping for a gotcha moment for the Minister, but to understand what representations the NSW and Victorian Governments had been making on the only cross-border health service in the nation. 

Just five documents were released. There were no letters from Victorian Health Minister Mary Anne Thomas nor NSW Health Minister Ryan Park.  

The case is clear – we need a new hospital on the border. 

Whether it’s on a green or brownfield site, we know the funding promised so far will not build a state of the art, single-site hospital that meets our community’s needs for years to come.  

So it would make sense to me if the states were asking for the federal government to invest in this project – I certainly am! 

What these documents show is a lack of effort by the Victorian and NSW Governments to get a better deal for people on the border. 

There are many examples of federal governments investing in building new hospitals. 

But when I speak to this government, I am often told that hospitals are a state government responsibility, and the states would need to make the ask. I am dumbfounded that it appears there isn’t any correspondence on this topic at all from the state ministers.