❓ Mr. Michael asks about the progress of the McGowan government's investment in additional hospital beds. The Minister for Health details the delivery of 420 beds, highlighting the use of modular construction and its benefits for local jobs and capacity expansion.
AnsweredQoN 463Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HOSPITALS — BED CAPACITY
463. Mr D.R. MICHAEL to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's substantial investment in our health system, including the
rollout of 530 additional beds across the state. Can the minister update the
house on the delivery of these additional beds, and outline to the house how
this significant infrastructure investment will help improve the delivery of
health care in Western Australia and build further capacity in the health
system?
463. Mr D.R. MICHAEL to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's substantial investment in our health system, including the
rollout of 530 additional beds across the state. Can the minister update the
house on the delivery of these additional beds, and outline to the house how
this significant infrastructure investment will help improve the delivery of
health care in Western Australia and build further capacity in the health
system?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for his
question. I was very pleased to open 30 of these additional beds in the
electorate of Balcatta at Osborne Park
Hospital. This is a significant expansion of beds in our system. To put this
into perspective , these beds were funded in the budget towards the end
of last year. In less than 12 months, this government has delivered 420 beds into the health system. To
provide some context, Perth Children's Hospital has around 200 beds ,
so we have put the equivalent number of beds of two Perth Children's
Hospitals into our system in less than 12 months. That is actually an
incredible achievement by the people involved in this project, and I have to
thank the Department of Health, the Department of Finance and our delivery
partners for delivering these beds.
One of the reasons we were able to
put them on so rapidly was the new modular construction. This is a new way of
building in Western Australia. It creates lots of local jobs and enables us to
put good quality construction on the ground quickly. I know that the Minister
for Housing is very excited about this construction method for our social
housing builds and buildings. This is a significant number of beds across Western
Australia. They are going into Bunbury Hospital, Osborne Park Hospital, Bentley
Hospital and Rockingham General Hospital. A range of beds are going into the
metropolitan area as well as regional areas. We will provide really important
capacity, because we know that we are challenged by high demand and longer
periods of hospital stays in our community.
I heard the member for Cottesloe
call these ''demountables''. Let us just be clear that the
company that delivered this is a great Western Australian company, Multiplex.
What an insult to the people who worked on this incredible construction and all
the people who helped build these modulars locally in Muchea in Western Australia,
and we have all of those jobs on the ground because they know that we need to
add capacity —
Mr W.J. Johnston : You wanted
it done in Malaysia!
Ms A. SANDERSON : If it was
up to those opposite, it would be built in Malaysia. They offshored as much as
they possibly could.
This has not only provided
important work for local trades; it is fast-tracked capacity expansion in our
health system across Western Australia. I congratulate everyone who has been
involved and thank Multiplex for its work.
question. I was very pleased to open 30 of these additional beds in the
electorate of Balcatta at Osborne Park
Hospital. This is a significant expansion of beds in our system. To put this
into perspective , these beds were funded in the budget towards the end
of last year. In less than 12 months, this government has delivered 420 beds into the health system. To
provide some context, Perth Children's Hospital has around 200 beds ,
so we have put the equivalent number of beds of two Perth Children's
Hospitals into our system in less than 12 months. That is actually an
incredible achievement by the people involved in this project, and I have to
thank the Department of Health, the Department of Finance and our delivery
partners for delivering these beds.
One of the reasons we were able to
put them on so rapidly was the new modular construction. This is a new way of
building in Western Australia. It creates lots of local jobs and enables us to
put good quality construction on the ground quickly. I know that the Minister
for Housing is very excited about this construction method for our social
housing builds and buildings. This is a significant number of beds across Western
Australia. They are going into Bunbury Hospital, Osborne Park Hospital, Bentley
Hospital and Rockingham General Hospital. A range of beds are going into the
metropolitan area as well as regional areas. We will provide really important
capacity, because we know that we are challenged by high demand and longer
periods of hospital stays in our community.
I heard the member for Cottesloe
call these ''demountables''. Let us just be clear that the
company that delivered this is a great Western Australian company, Multiplex.
What an insult to the people who worked on this incredible construction and all
the people who helped build these modulars locally in Muchea in Western Australia,
and we have all of those jobs on the ground because they know that we need to
add capacity —
Mr W.J. Johnston : You wanted
it done in Malaysia!
Ms A. SANDERSON : If it was
up to those opposite, it would be built in Malaysia. They offshored as much as
they possibly could.
This has not only provided
important work for local trades; it is fast-tracked capacity expansion in our
health system across Western Australia. I congratulate everyone who has been
involved and thank Multiplex for its work.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.