Despite the Victorian Minister for Health, Mary-Anne Thomas, turning a deaf ear to their pleas, regional councils and medical workers will continue their campaign for a greenfield site for a new Albury Wodonga hospital, which would service outlying areas including the Upper Murray.

A 200-strong crowd held a rally on the steps of Parliament House last Wednesday to protest the government’s stance on the issue, which supports a redevelopment of current facilities at a cost of $558 million.

Critics of the planned hospital redevelopment maintain it prioritises budget constraints over community health needs.

Towong Shire deputy mayor, Cr Denise Anderson, was among a group that later filled the public gallery in the Legislative Assembly to continue their protest, many of whom voiced their opinions of the minister with cries of ‘Shame!’.

Cr Anderson was handed a seven-day ban for her outburst from the gallery when Minister Thomas rose to address a question from Member for Benambra, Bill Tilley, about why the government would not build a new hospital.

Cr Anderson had been strident in stressing that lives are at risk from the government’s approach.

Parliament was subsequently paused while the gallery was cleared.

Former Towong mayor, Peter Joyce and his wife Fairlie, were among those at the rally after leaving from their home at 3am that morning to travel to Melbourne.

“It’s a big commitment but it does mean a lot to us,” he said. “We’ve got five kids and 13 grandkids and they’ve all required treatment at Albury hospital.”

Health staff and 13 regional councils have united to ask that governments build a new greenfield single-site hospital, fearing the Albury redevelopment will be a waste of money and fail the community.

This article appeared in the Corryong Courier, 13 March 2025.
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