Labor is concerned the state government has walked away from its election promise to build a new medical precinct in Huonville, almost 12 months after the commitment was made.
At the 2025 election, the Liberals pledged the $15 million Huon Valley precinct would be the first of five new TassieDoc bulk-billing clinics, with others promised for Legana, Bicheno and Latrobe.
Instead, the first two sites announced on Sunday were in Deloraine and Westbury, with grants going to existing private practices.
The original Huon commitment included a mental health hub, 100% bulk-billing GP services and after-hours and weekend appointments.
Labor MLC and shadow health minister Sarah Lovell said Huon voters had been left in the dark about the project.
“We have no information about what’s happening for their plan down here,” Lovell said.
“Huon voters would have voted for this government off the back of the commitment that they made to increase health services here in the Huon and now we’re seeing the government walk away from that.”
Lovell said the original promise was to select a specific site within the first 100 days, not simply name the suburb.
She said the model also appeared to have shifted, with grants now going to private operators rather than purpose-built, state-run clinics.
“If they are confident that their plan … can deliver the same sort of access to health services that their original promise would have delivered, then they need to be very upfront with Tasmanians about how that’s going to work,” Lovell said.
Health Minister Bridget Archer said the Huonville commitment had not been broken and the $15 million project would be reflected in the state budget.
“We remain committed to the project that we announced at the election in Huonville,” Archer said.
Archer said on Sunday it did not make sense to build new clinics when existing ones could be expanded to deliver the same outcome.
On Monday, she said the government was tailoring solutions to individual communities and rejected Labor’s “scattergun” approach to the policy.
“One of the first meetings that I held after becoming health minister was with the Huon Valley Council and with stakeholders … to talk about what the solutions are going to be that best fit that community,” she said.
“Those have been constructive and ongoing constructive conversations and we will continue to do that to tailor a solution that the community wants.”
Archer did not provide a timeline for when the Huonville clinic would open, saying further consultation was needed.
“If I just went out and said, ‘I’m going to drop a new medical centre into this particular place in the Huon’, I would be standing here today and you would be saying, ‘you haven’t consulted with the community’,” she told reporters.
“I am consulting with the community and we will do … that detailed policy work as well, unlike lazy Labor who have gone out and just thrown their policy solution at a wall and hope that some of it’s going to stick.”
Huon Valley mayor Sally Doyle said the council has requested an update from the state government on project timeframes.
“We welcome today’s confirmation from Minister Archer that the project will be reflected in the state budget and informed by local engagement,” she said.
“As the only provider of primary healthcare services in the far south, council will keep advocating for state support to build on the benefits of council’s own healthcare investments like our successful new women’s health clinic at Geeveston.”
