More than 200 residents and concerned citizens from neighbouring municipalities turned up on Sunday at the Corryong Memorial Hall to protest against the redevelopment of the Albury Hospital and to continue the fight to have a new facility built on a greenfield site to meet the future needs of Albury Wodonga and surrounding communities.
Sunday’s protest is the latest step in a protracted campaign that has escalated since the NSW and Victorian governments announced a joint $558 million funding commitment to redevelop the existing Albury Base hospital.
The rally was attended by mayors and councillors from Albury, Wodonga and Towong Councils. Towong mayor, Cr Andrew Whitehead, outright rejected the proposal for the Albury hospital redevelopment and again called on the Victorian and NSW governments to visit North East Victoria, meet with councils and listen to their concerns.
He said that invitations to the rally had been sent to 13 state and federal politicians and only one had replied – the Member for Northern Victoria Rikkie-Lee Tyrell – who also attended the rally. A letter from the Member for Indi, Helen Haines, was also received and read out.
Cr Whitehead highlighted the inadequacy of the redevelopment proposal and the urgent case for a hospital that will meet the needs of the region now and into the future.
He asked for a ‘show of hands’ of people who had been impacted in some way by a negative experience with Albury Wodonga Health and more than half the audience responded.
“This is the single most important issue facing the border region and Towong Shire residents,” Cr Whitehead emphasised.
Wodonga mayor, Michael Gobel, put the financial case for a new hospital saying that “We know we’re on the right side of history here.”
Albury mayor, Kevin Mack, took aim at the absent politicians who he said were treating border communities like second class citizens.
This article appeared in Corryong Courier, 14 August 2025.
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