Albanese pledges ‘state of the art’ Adelaide centre as health blitz continues
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The news: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s healthcare-themed blitz of key electorates has landed in Adelaide, where he will unveil a new “state of the art” centre service in the city’s south.
The context: For the second day in a row, Albanese will appear alongside a popular state Labor leader — this time SA Premier Peter Malinauskas — to unveil Commonwealth funding for health services. On Monday, Albanese joined WA Premier Roger Cook to commit $150 million to Perth’s St John of God Midland Public and Private Hospitals.
The new centre — Flinders HealthCARE Centre — will be located in the Flinders Health Precinct in Bedford Park, with $300 million in funding to be split evenly between the Commonwealth and Flinders University.
The Commonwealth’s share of funding would be added to the 2025 PEFO statement if Labor wins the May 3 election, with construction not set to start until 2027.
The ten-story centre would ultimately treat patients while training budding health professionals, and would include three floors of state-of-the-art clinical space that will be able to treat 100 patients simultaneously.
Labor said the centre would ultimately open 10,000 health appointments and see 1300 health professionals graduate annually — including around 490 nurses, 250 social workers, and 100 paramedics.
Labor is looking to hold on to Boothby in Adelaide’s west, which it won for the first time in 2022. Former Liberal MP Nicolle Flint, who decided not to stand last time around, is running for the seat again.
Albanese is also expected to use the trip to campaign in Sturt, a marginal seat where Liberal MP James Stevens fended off strong challenges from Labor and the Greens to win on a wafer-thin margin in 2022. The seat has been held by the Liberal Party since its creation in 1974, including by former minister Christopher Pyne.
This time around, both parties have resumed their challenges while a Climate 200-backed independent candidate is also on the hunt. Third place is considered key in tight three-way contests, with their preference flow often determining which candidate is elected.
Labor considers the seat, in Adelaide’s inner north, a possible gain while Greens leader Adam Bandt has publicly stated it is a major target.
In the seats of Brisbane and Ryan, the Greens leapfrogged Labor into second place on the primary vote before riding their preferences to victory in 2022. Similar dynamics would likely be needed for the Greens to win in Sturt.
The numbers: On top of Tuesday’s announcement, Albanese has made multiple health care spending commitments in recent weeks, including a $200 million splurge in Perth on Monday morning. That comes alongside a $8.5 billion Medicare commitment which Albanese made the centrepiece of his campaign.
What they said: “Nurses, midwives, ambos, speech pathologists, physios, psychologists, and other health professionals — this means more of them, trained in world-class facilities,” Premier Malinauskas said in a statement.
The source: Joint Albanese and Malinkauskas government press release
