ROYAL ADELAIDE HOSPITAL

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (14:42): Did the Minister for Health or any member of the government seek advice from the central urban planning agency, Planning SA, on the best possible use for the City West railway site before deciding to build a hospital there?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (14:42): I must say I was so excited by the fact that there was a question from the other side that I missed the beginning of it. Let me recall the process we went through. This is an interesting question. Are you not going to get Treasury but, rather, health, Stephen? Is that the deal?

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Planning, I see. Well, I am happy to answer the question. When we developed our state health strategy back in 2007, we developed the South Australian Health Care Plan. We went through a process of determining the resources required for the future of health care in our state. We recognised that the Royal Adelaide Hospital needed to be upgraded not only because it was old but also because it was not big enough.

We needed another site, so we identified a number of potential sites around the city. The railway land was one of the sites. The Glenside facility was another potential site. We thought about Keswick Barracks, but we did not own that and it has a lot of heritage buildings. We looked at about a dozen or 15 sites, and through that process it was decided that the railway land was the best site because it had sufficient land available and it was proximate to all the services to which it needed to be proximate. It is close to the existing site and the universities, and so on. That was the site that Health determined was the ideal site.

Of course, we then went through the process of developing a cabinet submission, which went through the broad cabinet process. Of course, Planning SA and all the other agencies of government were involved in that process. Planning SA had its say and we engaged in a process with Planning SA, particularly in relation to the zoning that was required and how it fitted in with other ideas of Planning SA, particularly in that section of the Parklands where the old gaol and the SA Water land, and other bits and pieces, are. So there was a process which involved Planning SA.