Labour shortages, delays and cost blowouts to plague Qld gov $10bn health upgrades

The 2032 Olympic Games are on a collision course with a string of major projects across Queensland. WHAT IT MEANS

The Palaszczuk government’s push to complete its highly lauded $10bn hospital expansion program could be crippled by delays and cost blow outs amid labour shortages and a workload clash with 2032 Olympic projects, a peak national infrastructure group has warned.

An infrastructure overload is expected to occur in Queensland with 13 major health builds under way between now and 2029, many coinciding with works on major Olympic-related projects.

The latest analysis by Infrastructure Partnerships Australia shows that Queensland’s social infrastructure pipeline is the most crowded of any state or territory.

Scheduled Queensland Health and Hospitals Plan works under the state’s much touted $9.785bn Capacity Expansion Program include three new $1bn hospitals in Coomera, Toowoomba and Bundaberg and a new Queensland Cancer Centre.

Their IPA’s latest report has forecast the state’s hospital construction activity will be at its peak between June 2025 and January 2026 with 11 of the 13 health projects all underway.

This peak is at the same time early works for the $2bn Gabba redevelopment and Brisbane Arena are expected.

The construction timeline for the Queensland government's $10bn hospital expansion program.

While acknowledging the desperate need to increase hospital capacity in Queensland, IPA has warned supply chain constraints and a projected national labour crunch for 2025 will work against the jam-packed calendar of hospital projects all due for completion by 2029.

“There is significant crossover in the construction timelines not only among the hospital program but with other key infrastructure projects in Queensland,” Infrastructure Partnerships Australia chief executive Adrian Dwyer said.

“This includes the delivery of infrastructure to support the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the energy roll out.

“Realism about delivery will be a necessary element of building them.

“While ambition is good, hope is not a strategy.”

Two of the 11 projects identified in the peak construction period – the Prince Charles Hospital expansion and the Redcliffe Hospital development – have already seen costs increase before work has begun.

Project costs at The Prince Charles and Redcliffe hospitals have risen significantly. Picture: Richard Walker

The cost of the Prince Charles Hospital will rise by $60m to $360m while at Redcliffe the cost has risen $88m to $1.14bn – which Health Minister Shannon Fentiman attributes to additional health services delivered under the expansion.

Ms Fentiman also reiterated the timeline for the “record-breaking”, $9.78bn health infrastructure investment.

“Delivery of the The Queensland Health and Hospitals Plan is currently tracking well,” she said.

“The dedicated Health Capital Division in Queensland Health is working collaboratively with contractors to deliver our ambitious program.

“In September 2022, they held the largest ever government industry forum, the first of its kind in Australia.

“This was to brief the industry on our ambitious program and to gain their input on how the program could be best delivered.”

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman.

But Ms Fentiman acknowledged that “with any major infrastructure project, timelines can be impacted by factors outside of our control, including ground conditions, latent conditions, supply chain and labour uncertainties”.

Infrastructure Partnerships Australia forecasts the national demand for labour for social infrastructure will peak over 200 per cent on current levels during 2025.

“The hospital pipeline in Queensland is characterised by shorter estimated time frames for project completion compared to those in New South Wales,” Mr Dwyer said.

Opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates called for the government to admit there was “zero chance of delivering all projects on time and on budget”.

“In the chaos and crisis of their government, Labor won’t have built a major new hospital for at least 13 years after coming to power, despite our growing population and increasingly stretched health services,” she said.

Originally published as Labour shortages, delays and cost blowouts to plague Qld gov $10bn health upgrades