Former Liberal frontbencher Sophie Mirabella says she had secured $10m for hospital funding for her Victorian seat, but Indi missed out on the money when it elected independent Cathy McGowan 2013.
Mirabella’s defeat was one of the biggest upsets of the last election, and she is challenging McGowan in this year’s poll.
During a lively Sky News debate from a Wangaratta pub on Thursday night, Mirabella answered a question from Northeast Health Wangaratta board chair Brendan Schutt, who asked candidates what they would do to secure health funding for the area.
“I had a commitment for a $10m allocation to the Wangaratta hospital that if elected I was going to announce a week after the election,” Mirabella said. “That is $10m that Wangaratta hasn’t had because Cathy got elected.”
Greens candidate Jenny O’Connor challenged Mirabella, saying, “this is what is wrong with politics” if funds could be withdrawn when voters didn’t support a particular candidate. But Mirabella said it was “about who has the ability and the knowledge and the contacts to go the top of the list [for hospital funding]. Cathy wasn’t able to do it. I will be.”
McGowan said independents were able to work with both sides of politics to achieve results.
Labor’s health spokeswoman, Catherine King, said on Friday the Turnbull government should apologise to the voters of Indi, and needed to explain what had happened to the $10m.
“This is a deeply disturbing insight into the Liberal party’s approach to health policy, which puts political payback before the needs of patients,” King said.
Whether an independent is best able to secure investment in regional towns or whether a major party member will do better is likely to be one of the key issues in Indi at the federal election. McGowan holds the seat by just 0.3%.
Mirabella said she had been defamed by a local newspaper, the Benalla Ensign, which this week reported that Mirabella “very publicly pushed” McGowan out of the way to prevent her from being photographed with the assistant health minister, Ken Wyatt, during a recent event at an aged care facility. Mirabella has emphatically denied the report.
McGowan’s campaign had issued a statement saying the Mirabella had “intervened” to stop the photograph, but did not mention whether there was any physical contact. .
“Can you imagine the impact on a candidate, someone high profile, a mother…., to have an accusation that you committed assault, it just gutted me,” Mirabella said. She also said that supporters of McGowan had attacked her on Twitter and Facebook over the incident.
McGowan was reluctant to speak about it, suggesting it should be discussed privately.
“I think I’d actually rather leave it Sophie. I think it’s a time for another place, that’s my sense of it. Tonight’s about policy, the future of the electorate.”
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