Sorry, SATP. I’m not convinced. I understand your point about this intervention highlighting the states’ failures on health. But I think the blatant nature of it will swamp any such subtle points. The obvious question is, why wasn’t the money spent somewhere that needs a good hospital instead of on a hospital that is barely viable in an already well serviced area? Why wasn’t it spent on your Logan hospital for example?

I think that within the electorate of Braddon this intervention will cost Howard as many votes as he will gain from it. And I think that outside Braddon it makes him look like a spend-thrift opportunist.

It is purely politics, & possibly quite cunning politics. To think otherwise would be erronous.

It would be a bold move by the opposition to think that this cannot be worked into an issue which will strike a chord with, and possibly change the vote of, a lot of people nationwide who would otherwise vote for the opposition.

We have a few here who are as to politics as the Joker is to Batman, laughing hysterically at everything the govt does as they see it “stuffing up”.

The public need not see it that way, for not everybody sees things through the bottom of the “ALP-all-the-way” Schooner glass.

PAB, it doesn’t matter how it looks in north-west Tas, this is politics, it only matters how voters in the rest of the country see it

It absolutely sinks to the rest of the country SATP. Everyone would like better hospital services but this is not a sane way to provide them. Fortunately, not long now to the election where we can wave them goodbye.

Katz, Lefty E & others who make trite of people dying: God help you, you soulless bastards!

Oh deary me, the ad hominem when the Howardista arguments go belly up.

Shorter SATP: John Howard and I have put on our Florence Nightingale badges. Those who mock are soul-less (presumably atheistic) bastards going to hell.

When interest rates are low, they take the credit.

When they’re high, its someone else’s fault!

Bwaahahaaa. They’re rooted.

The public health billions going down the toilet on private health insurance subsidy (you know, that 30% that was completely wasted by being progressively eaten up by premium rises, since the funds knew we could afford it) might have been used better elsewhere.

Katz, Lefty E & others who make trite of people dying: God help you, you soulless bastards!

I know the Northwest of Tasmania well. Hospitals up there have been a nightmare for politicians for decades. John Howard is playing with fire by interfering. In fact I think that even within the electorate of Braddon, this intervention will cost more votes than it will gain. Here’s why.

Northwest Tasmania has a large and well regarded hospital already. It’s located 30 minutes from Devonport in Burnie, the second largest (but more centrally located) city on the coast (and also within the electorate of Braddon). Boosting the Devonport hospital threatens the viability of the Burnie hospital. There’s not enough doctors, nurses and patients to justify two major hospitals so close to each other. There is already a call from a member of Tasmania’s upper house for money saved on the northwest as a result of John Howard’s largesse to be redirected to other hospitals in the state. Unless John Howard is going to save the Burnie hospital as well, its future must be in doubt. I suspect any votes John Howard gains in Devonport will be lost in Burnie.

Finally, there is the big hit that Howard’s financial credibility has taken. This is such a blatant attempt to buy votes with absolutely no regard for good policy. As the headline said – costly and counterproductive.