Arabic version: منظمات صحية تطالب بتوجيه أموال «ميدل آرم» إلى مستشفيات الإقليم الشمالي

According to ABC News, 16 health organisations have urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to redirect $1.5 billion earmarked for Darwin’s Middle Arm industrial precinct into new Northern Territory health infrastructure. The groups, including the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and the Australian College of Nursing, made the request in an open letter.

The letter calls for the Commonwealth to cancel its budget pledge for the precinct and prioritise a high-quality tertiary hospital for Darwin, improved regional health facilities and health promotion. It says the health industry is one of the NT’s largest employers and that investment could improve healthcare and local people’s lives.

The coalition also raised concerns about gas and petrochemical developments at Middle Arm, which has faced a Senate inquiry and concern from health and green groups over possible impacts on Top End air pollution. Medical practitioners have called for the ageing Royal Darwin Hospital to be replaced. Construction on the current hospital was completed in 1979.

During Cyclone Fina in November last year, bricks fell from an outside hospital wall into a busy internal waiting area. The letter said it was “incredibly lucky” that no staff or patients were injured or killed, and argued that demand often exceeds supply at NT hospitals and clinics.

The push follows the NT Labor opposition’s announcement that it would work towards a new Royal Darwin Hospital if elected in 2028, despite having no federal funding locked in. Independent Alice Springs politician Robyn Lambley criticised the proposal and said the Alice Springs Hospital was well past its use-by date. Earlier this year, there were also calls to move Katherine Hospital after two flood evacuations in one month.