With Prime Minister Kevin Rudd watching, Mr Bartlett told an audience of nearly 300 at Labor's official campaign launch that the party's priority if re-elected would always be public health.

He used the launch at Hobart's Baha'i Centre to announce new state health spending totalling $176.3 million.

This would include $126 million from the state towards:

•The $285 million cost of buying out the remaining six years of the Hobart Private Hospital lease from Healthscope and to redevelop the site.

•The $180 million cost of a new dedicated Tasmanian women's and children's hospital on the same site.

Completion of the projects would be dependent on federal funding under the Rudd reforms.

Mr Bartlett might find it difficult to keep to his target figure for the private hospital lease buy-out.

Healthscope chief Michael Coghlin later confirmed that the group had been told only an hour before the campaign launch of the Government plan.

Healthscope pays about $1 million a year to lease the Hobart Private site but negotiations have not started over the cost of the group moving to another location.

Health sources put that between $80 and $100 million yesterday.

Other commitments yesterday included:

•$32 million over four years to clear all elective surgery cases that have gone beyond the recommended surgery waiting times.

•$12 million over three years to establish four "general care, walk-in clinics", at the Launceston General Hospital, Royal Hobart Hospital, Mersey and North-West General Hospital to help ease emergency department demand.

•An extra $6.3 million for rural primary health care, particularly on the East and West coasts.

Mr Bartlett has already said that he would encourage the other states to take on Mr Rudd's sweeping hospital and health reforms that include a federal takeover of public hospitals.

He said that yesterday's new commitment of $126 million towards the Royal Hobart was on top of $130 million for the Launceston General Hospital, $8 million for the Mersey and $10 million for the North- West cancer centre.