A second federal election candidate in Calare has claimed funding for hospitals in the electorate has been cut by about $6 million.
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Shooters Fishers and Farmers party candidate Sam Romano said NSW Health figures showed the cuts had occurred since 2016-17.
Labor candidate Jess Jennings recently criticised cuts to health in Lithgow, Bathurst, Mudgee, Orange and other towns.
However, the sitting member and Nationals candidate Andrew Gee said the claims were wrong and instead funding had risen.
GRAPH: CALARE v SYDNEY HEALTH
Mr Romano said life expectancy is five years less in Calare than it is in Sydney after being the same in 1996. He said increased health funding was needed.
"I think he [Mr Gee] might have made a slip up with the document," he said.
"He needs to tell the people of Calare the truth, that the funding has been cut.
"My figures, my paperwork that has been [sourced] from NSW Health funding states different. He needs to have a good look at what he is producing and make sure that he can prove that money hasn't been removed.
"This government has not provided the amount of funding they are supposed to have provided. They have cut $6 million in the last three years.
"It is federal money that has been taken away from state hospitals and I want to see that money get put back into the budget and improve our regional hospitals."
Mr Romano said it showed the federal government was not treating regional and city residents equally.
He needs to tell the people of Calare the truth, that the funding has been cut.
- Sam Romano, SFF candidate
"They are treating the people who live further out from the city, like Orange and Bathurst, like second class citizens.
He said doctors and nurses should get a "better financial package" to entice them to live and work in regional areas.
However, Mr Gee said it was more of the "same dishonest, lying and scaremongering" shown by Mr Jennings.
"Mr Romano is working on the theory that if you repeat a lie often enough, people may believe it," he said.
Mr Gee said he was referring to an out-of-date report that did not mention individual hospitals or distinguish between state and federal funding.
He said federal funding had increased by 114 per cent since the Coalition took office.
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