Canberrans are likely to get a $500 million boost to the Canberra Hospital, a further $150 million for the city's women's and children's hospital and $15 million for Calvary Public in Belconnen.
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The three-pronged hospital funding boost, all core ACT Labor pledges, may have played a role in helping the government secure 40 per cent of the first preference pre-poll vote as of last night - not a final figure, but a clear signal the party is likely to be returned to power.
If light rail was the No. 1 issue for many voters, health ran a very close second in the election campaign, with numerous tit-for-tat funding announcements in the past couple of months.
While the ACT was going to get extra hospital funding whichever major party won, if Labor is successful extra funds will be directed largely to boost nurse numbers and allied health services, rather than nurses and GPs under the Liberals' pledges.
Under a returned Labor government, Canberrans will see $12 million go towards a new Indigenous health clinic run by Winnunga Nimityjah, a new nurse walk-in centre in the inner-northern suburbs, $36 million to fund more nurses, $3 million for health research and the creation of a new clinical nursing school at the University of Canberra.
The Liberals, although they fell on just under 35 per cent of the first preference, pre-poll count on Saturday night, had pledged $395 million for Canberra Hospital, $2.1 million for general practitioner recruitment and longer opening hours and $18 million for Calvary Public Hospital - but it was not enough to turn the traditionally Labor-voting ACT.
But Labor leader Andrew Barr's pledge for an extra $150 million for the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children, including extra doctors and nurses and a child mental health unit, seemed to top the Liberals' promises..
The likelihood is that Labor will be returned to government with the Greens again in a balance of power position, lending further credence to the minor party's pledges.
They included two new nurse walk-in centres, more nurses and a pill-testing trial.
But most crucial for the health sector, should a Labor-Greens government be returned, was a broader Greens' pledge for a more holistic review of the ACT's health needs and a comprehensive long-term strategic plan for both physical and mental health.
A power-sharing arrangement between Labor and Greens could also re-open the door to an ACT pill-testing trial, a Greens promise, and wider reforms to the Territory's drug laws - something many stakeholders have repeatedly called for.
