Taxpayers slugged with $302k cost to change name of hospital

A day after the Palaszczuk Government came under fire for the ‘rigged’ poll used to justify the change of name of Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital, the huge cost to taxpayers has been revealed.

QUEENSLANDERS will have to fork out hundreds of thousands of dollars to change the name of the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital to the Queensland Children’s Hospital.

The Courier-Mail can reveal the cost of changing signage around the building is expected to reach more than $302,000.

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The figure, unearthed in a question on notice, shows the money will be spent on changing the sign on the top of the hospital as well as signs at the main reception, car park and the lifts.

Signage changes will also be required in the loading dock of the hospital, at pedestrian signals and at entrances around the building.

The money is not expected to come from the Health Department budget, but from the Housing and Public Works budget.

The government had previously indicated that the cost of changing the signage would come in at less than $500,000.

The decision to change the name came after the government conducted a poll that has recently been shrouded in controversy after it was revealed some IP addresses had voted multiple times.

It will cost Queensland taxpayers more than $300,000 to change the name of Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital to the Queensland Children’s Hospital. Picture: Marc Robertson

The Cilento family issued a statement this morning, expressing their disgust over the poll.

“All we have ever wanted is for our grandmother’s name to remain on the hospital and for her legacy to continue to be honoured,” the statement read.

“She’s rightly considered to be national treasure and deserves to be treated in that way.

“As a family we’re astounded that this government would use her as a political football.

“We’d like to see a full investigation into the veracity of the poll and who sanctioned it. There are clearly no grounds for the hospital renaming to go ahead.”