Royalties for Regions money being spent
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The WA Premier Colin Barnett
The Western Australian Government has announced the first Royalties for Regions project with building to start on the redevelopment of Kalgoorlie Regional Hospital early next year.
About $16 million of Royalties for Regions money will be spent on the project, with a further $40 million dollars coming from other government funding.
The Royalties for Regions scheme was the bargaining tool used by the Nationals at this year's state election.
When the election resulted in a hung parliament, both major parties attempted to win the Nationals' support and government by agreeing to a request to spend the equivalent of one quarter of the state's mining royalties on regional areas.
The Premier Colin Barnett says the hospital was ignored by the previous government, and the redevelopment is long overdue.
"This project has been talked about for eight years so we are getting on with what we promised to do during the election," he said.
Work on the hospital is expected to be completed within three years.
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