House of Assembly Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3) 51 3 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Marjorie Jackson-Nelson Hospital MARJORIE JACKSON-NELSON HOSPITAL Mr HAMILTON-SMITH House of Assembly Waite Leader of the Opposition MARJORIE JACKSON-NELSON HOSPITAL Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (14:46): I have a supplementary question, again, to the Treasurer. Has the dollar figure for the initial public sector comparator for the government-funded build of the Marjorie Jackson-Nelson Hospital been fully determined and has that comparator been revised? The Hon. K.O. FOLEY House of Assembly Port Adelaide Deputy Premier Minister for Industry and Trade Minister for Federal/State Relations MARJORIE JACKSON-NELSON HOSPITAL The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Federal/State Relations) (14:46): I will get a specific answer for the leader on that. I am not exactly certain of the answer to that. I saw some comments in the paper just recently referring to what the final number will be, but we are still scoping the project. The government has put an initial estimate to the parliament and into our budget; that was based upon an assessment of what the hospital would cost with a significant contingency for cost overrun for increased scope and a prudential margin, as we would for all these projects. I am not aware specifically of any variation in that except to say that when you are scoping a very large hospital, it is a constant battle between—and I think I am fair in saying this—what the medicos may want in their hospital and what we, as a government, think is an appropriate level of service. So, that challenge and scoping work happens whether it is a PPP or a government-owned build. I will get an answer for the leader to the extent that I am able and to the extent to which it is prudent that we make that information available publicly, because we are going into a sensitive set of negotiations. Ms Chapman interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order, the deputy leader! The Hon. K.O. FOLEY House of Assembly The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Anyway, I am trying to answer the question as fairly as I can. The hospital planning is going along quite nicely, as we have said, and once we have fully scoped the project and we are able to get all these things bolted down, then we will know exactly what the public sector comparator will be. You cannot compare something until you have decided the exact shape and nature of the hospital, and that is what we are doing right now.