Ribbon cutting ceremonies have been the centre of controversy in Australia's past and a hubbub has flaired at the "grand opening" of the Mersey Hospital in Tasmania, attended by man of the moment, Tony Abbott.
Initially, Abbott was to be accompanied by the Prime Minister to the marginal Tasmanian seat of Braddon where the hospital is located. But a delay of the federal government's takeover of the Mersey took the gloss off the opening, during which Abbott was harangued by a concerned father-to-be over the treatment being offered to his fiance. Click on the Video tab above to see the vision.
Abbott was also forced to assuage foreign doctors who fear losing their jobs and arrange a meeting to apologise to Lara Giddings, whom he described as "the most incompetent health minister in Tasmania's history".
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