Budget full of ‘recycled promises' for Peel Health Campus

Perth Now

24-06-2025

Peel Health Campus was top of mind at a Peel Region Budget Breakfast last week and not everyone was happy about the State Government's funding commitments.
Minister for Peel Jessica Stojkovski was in town to present post-budget highlights for the region and answer questions.
The minister drew some looks when she struggled to pronounce the names of suburbs in the region she represents, with Coodanup became Coondanup and Edenvale pronounced Evandale.
Most of the funding announced for the region had been earmarked in previous budgets but highlights included $9.7 million for infill sewerage services to about 150 properties in Falcon, $200,000 to begin planning for a high school in Dawesville, which has been promised for decades, and access to the Forrest Highway from South Yunderup.
Attendees could submit questions to the minister and Q&A host, Mandurah MP Rhys Williams, acknowledged that a number of these questions related to Peel Health Campus.
'The $152 million that was committed to the budget for the redevelopment, everybody knows that that's not going to cover the cost of the redevelopment,' he added.
'That is for the forward works, that is to get the project started, get the power there, get the works done so that the project can get under way.
'What we are hoping to understand is what the status of that project is.' Mr Williams and Ms Stojkovski give an update on the Peel Health Campus development. Credit: Supplied
The minister confirmed that detailed plans for Peel Health Campus were 'close to being finalised'.
'It's a hard thing to get people to understand you can't actually build buildings unless you have water and power that those buildings can access,' Ms Stojkovski added.
'My husband's a builder, so he always talks about forward works, and the forward works always taking too long, but it's a really important part of the project, isn't it?'
The $152m commitment was first announced by the State Government in 2020.
This year's budget papers revealed an estimated expenditure of $2000 for the ED expansion in 2024-25 and $89,000 in 2025-26, out of a total estimated expenditure of $3,680,000.
For the hospital redevelopment, the estimated expenditure in 2024-25 was $15,212,000 with $23,596,000 committed for 2025-26, and an expected total cost of $142,948,000.
Earlier that morning, Canning MP Andrew Hastie criticised the government's funding commitment, saying, 'It's just more recycled promises with no real progress'.
'The people of Mandurah and the Peel Region were promised a $152 million redevelopment back in 2020 and five years later, we have absolutely nothing to show for it,' Mr Hastie said.
'The WA Government is still pointing to the same line in the budget but there are no new wards, no new beds and no upgrade in sight.
'Money in the budget doesn't mean anything if it never leaves the spreadsheet.'
Mr Hastie said the government needs millions more dollars to account for inflation.
'It's simple: you can't build today's hospital with yesterday's budget,' he said.
'The numbers don't add up. That money won't stretch anywhere near as far now, and they know it. This tells us they're not serious about getting this project done.
'While Labor is busy patting themselves on the back, patients are ramped outside waiting for care.
'Some are walking away from the emergency department altogether because they simply can't wait any longer. Our dedicated healthcare workers are stretched beyond their limits.'
At the breakfast, Mr Williams added that the campus was the number one priority for himself and Dawesville MP Lisa Munday.
'There's nothing more important than delivering the full-scale transformation at Peel Health Campus, we are meeting fortnightly with stakeholders in agencies and ministerial offices to get this project to where it needs to be, and we will keep that pressure on,' he said.
Mr Williams then revealed that the Peel region had the highest rates of family and domestic violence in the State and asked the minister to speak on local investments in the sector.
'I'm really proud that our government has invested over half a billion dollars in the prevention of family and domestic violence since 2017 and that has been across the spectrum of interventions,' Ms Stojkovski said.
'There are a number of different refuges that we are expanding and new refuges that we are looking to put new units into, so not beds, because we understand that while women, historically, have been identified as the victim survivors in family and domestic violence, actually children are also victim survivors.
'So we're looking at how many units we can provide in different places, rather than just beds.'
Local commitments include:
$20m for a new Peel Netball Centre, with the location to be developed in consultation with the community and Netball WA;
$6m for additional multi-use indoor courts at Mandurah Aquatic Centre to cater for basketball, volleyball, badminton and netball;
$200,000 towards storage at Peel Reserve Oval to cater to the Halls Head Cricket Club and Mandurah City Football Club;
$1.45m towards a new pavilion at Dwellingup Oval, including women's changerooms;
$800,000 towards new women's changerooms at Waroona Football Club;
$800,000 towards upgrades at North Pinjarra Park including for the multi-use courts, play area and barbecues;
$750,000 towards upgrades at Edenvale Heritage Precinct including lighting and toilets;
$400,000 towards lighting and storage upgrades at Merlin Street Reserve, used by the Halls Head Football and Netball Club;
$180,000 to improve women's facilities at Sir Ross McLarty Oval in Pinjarra;
$7.5m for major facility upgrades at the Pinjarra Race Club; and
$2.2m for upgrades to the Pinjarra Harness Racing Club.