Ministerial Statement

ROYAL ADELAIDE HOSPITAL

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (15:42): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Earlier in question time, the Leader of the Opposition asked the Premier a question about the existing RAH site and what the government's intentions were. In asking his question, he made the claim that I had said that some of the buildings or some of the site would be sold. This is not the case.

In fact, I can clarify for the house the position I have taken, the most recent expression of which has been consistent with the position I have taken over the last 18 months. I said at the time we announced we were going to build a new hospital that we would go through a master planning exercise for the current RAH site, and we are going through that process.

I said at the time that the heritage buildings would not be pulled down, and that is still the case. I said at the time that one of the options for the use of those heritage buildings was for the university. Adelaide University has expressed strong interest in using them for university purposes, and I said that we would obviously work with them. I think that is a very good use of those buildings, but clearly we would not sell them because it is on government land and Parklands. Of course, there could be and we would expect some remuneration as a result of the university having access to those buildings.

I also said that student accommodation was a possibility and I further said that a number of cultural institutions could be transferred to some of the buildings, and that is certainly an issue we are working through. I think it would be terrific to have cultural activities on that site. It would extend the cultural activities already on North Terrace and match up with the Botanic Gardens.

I also said that the majority of the site would be cleared of the existing buildings (the non-heritage listed buildings) and would be returned to the Parklands or the Botanic Gardens. That is still the government's intention. I have had conversations with the Director of the Botanic Gardens about the potential use of that land.

In a most recent interview with The Advertiser I was asked a question about what was intended and, basically, I went through the same possibilities. I think I added that there was a potential for a boutique hotel to be included on the site. I was thinking of the old nurses' quarters, which I thought might make an interesting boutique hotel along the lines of the Treasury hotel which operates opposite the post office.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Just a second. It struck me as being of potential use to the academic community if there was a hotel in that vicinity where academics or visitors to the university could stay and be involved in university programs. I just said this is a possibility; I did not say that we were going to do this.

I also indicated that, if the land that was to be returned to the Botanic Gardens were to be cleverly treated by putting underground cabling, water, IT and the rest of it, it could be turned into an area where outdoor activities could occur. I pointed to outdoor activities that occur, such as the Garden of Unearthly Delights, which is run every year in the parklands off East Terrace. It is a fantastic event. I was there the other night, and all of the facilities there look fantastic.

The difficulty for the people who use that site, of course, is that all of the electrical cabling, plumbing, wiring, and all of those things, have to be trucked in on the back of trucks at great expense. There is the potential to have a garden or a park which is a park for most of the time but which has all of those services built in, so that an event like the Garden of Unearthly Delights, WOMADelaide, or an event of that nature, could be plugged into it to be used.

It is definitely the government's intention that large parcels of that land be returned to the Parklands, and particularly to the Botanic Gardens, from which it was taken. As I said, I have had informal discussions with the Director of the Botanic Gardens about that suggestion. All of these matters are being considered in the master planning process. Eventually we will have a document which will be put out for public discussion.