First, it is disingenuous to suggest the one can only be achieved at the cost of dropping the other.

More importantly, just as the Opposition has been saying for months the Barr government has yet to make a case for its tram, the same is true of its own hospital proposal.

If this isn't done then the hospital announcement is somewhat akin to announcing a mega-dollar light-rail project five minutes out from a territory election.

Mr Hanson's $395 million plan is, at first glance, beguiling given the importance of health in any community. It is also lent some credence by the fact Labor favoured the investment of $800 million in a new hospital until recently.

That morphed into a $1.2 billion five-stage rebuild proposal that was detailed in the 2014 "proof of concept" report.

The Liberal's plan, which involves a new five-storey building housing a vastly expanded emergency department, up to 20 new operating theatres, medical imaging facilities and a 48-bed intensive care unit, is essentially the first stage of that.

The Opposition's sudden enthusiasm for the project, which marks a welcome shift to positive campaigning as opposed to a strategy based solely on saying no to the tram plan, seems to have some fundamental flaws.

A major one is that advice provided to the government last year indicated it was possible to extend the life of the current hospital by between five and 10 years.

This could apparently be done by revisiting the way in which existing beds are used and patient flows are managed, according to Health Minister Simon Corbell.

Mr Corbell has said while the new hospital plan would only deliver an additional 30 beds, the reforms that have been proposed would deliver the equivalent of an additional 50.

Given the magnitude of the investment involved it is essential any new hospital be strategically integrated into a long-term health services plan for the territory's residents and the many thousands of people in south-west NSW who rely on the specialist care available here.

Does what the Liberals are proposing fall into this category? Or is it just an exercise in political expediency intended to differentiate Mr Hanson and his colleagues from the government?

Then, of course, there is the age-old question of "where are you going to get the money for that?"

The government, itself no stranger to the odd set of rubbery figures, says the latest exercise in Hansonomics errs on the side of shonky.

One obvious problem is that if, as the Liberals claim, light rail has to go to make way for the hospital, then hundreds of millions of dollars will be needed to compensate highly disgruntled and probably litigious tram contractors.