Apparently there were a few surprised faces on the NSW North Coast when the Nationals former Deputy-Speaker and former MP for Page Ian Causley claimed credit for money promised by Kevin Rudd during the 2007 federal election campaign and delivered by the Rudd Government along with further funding to date.
On the strength of a conditional election promise by John Howard in that same election campaign, never delivered because he and his government were not re-elected, Causley claimed credit for $18 million in federal funding in his letter to the editor published in The Daily Examiner on 11 May 2010.
Labor supporter Bill O'Donnell called this ploy in the same newspaper on 17 May:
Preposterous Causley
WHAT an extraordinary letter by Ian Causley trying to claim that the $18 million being spent on Grafton Hospital was his initiative.
Let's look at the facts.
After 11 years in John Howard's government the Nationals had delivered next to nothing in health spending in Page.
In fact, there was a report in the Daily Telegraph by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in 2007 that between 1995/6 and 2005/6 the Federal Government hospital funding decreased from 45 per cent to 41 per cent, while state funding rose from 46 per cent to 51 per cent.
The fact is that after 11 years, John Howard turns up at Grafton Hospital a few weeks before an election he knows he's lost and says I've got $18 million for you.
He knows he doesn't have to deliver because he will be gone.
It was a ploy to try to save Page for the Nationals.
Mind you, that's after 11 years of nothing.
It must be galling for Hartsuyker and Causley to see Janelle Saffin finally delivering the $18 million.
Grafton Hospital upgrade is up and running, with an additional $1.2 million added on.
Fifteen million dollars at Lismore for Lismore Base Hospital for an integrated cancer care centre and $9.1 million for enhanced cancer care service, including second linear accelerator and cancer patient and carer accommodation.
Five million dollars for Grafton Super Clinic.
The list is too long to enumerate, and we're only talking about health spending.
This morning I heard Luke Hartsuyker talking on ABC radio saying he hopes the Federal Budget has money for roads and hospitals.
What hypocrisy.
What did he ever do for hospitals and roads when he was in government?
He cut one billion dollars from hospital funding and in 11 years only spent 1.1billion on the Pacific Highway.
Rudd Labor has promised $3.3 billion after two years in office towards finishing the highway's upgrade.
The fact is that in 11 years in government the Nationals were incapable of delivering anything to the Page and Cowper electorates.
Perhaps they were too busy holed up with Howard, Costello and Abbot planning to abolish the Industrial Relations Commission and to cut workers of their hard-won rights built up over 100 years.
I have a feeling the elephant is still in the room, if they are ever re-elected.
What a breath of fresh air to finally have a hardworking member for Page, with the ability to attract funding to the electorate.
It's a pity Maclean Hospital isn't still in Page because the National Party member for Cowper has shown us his ability to attract funding to his electorate for anything is non-existent.
BILL O'DONNELL, Maclean
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