ROYAL ADELAIDE HOSPITAL

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite) (15:10): As a supplementary question, can the minister then advise the house as to whether the five hectares he has mentioned has been set aside for that purpose and will not be used for any purpose other than for either a Women's and Children's relocation or an extension of the RAH?

The SPEAKER: That wasn't a supplementary: that was a question.

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts) (15:10): I am happy to answer the question. There are five hectares at the site. Some of that land will be used as water retention and the like, but there is capacity there on that land to increase the size of the RAH by about 30 per cent. It is zoned as a hospital site for health purposes so, unless the zoning was changed at some future stage, it would have to be used for that purpose.

One government can attempt to bind a future government, but it is impossible to do it, and I am not quite sure how you would do it. If we said there will be a women's and children's hospital, then it might be 20 years before it is done. I don't think it would be reasonable to try to bind a future government in that way. All I can say is that it is currently zoned for hospital purposes. If some government in the future wanted to change the zoning of it, I suppose they could do that and put a mini sportsfield there on that site and play some boutique sports—

An honourable member: Petanque.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: —petanque or something—on that site, or some other thing. But currently—and it would certainly be the policy of this government—we would leave it zoned for hospital purposes. If your side were to come into government, it would be in your hands, so if you commit yourselves to leaving it for hospital purposes then the whole world knows that whichever side is in government it will be reserved for hospital services.

It may well be that the RAH at some future time—in 10 or 20 years—may need to expand. It may not need to expand and you could put a women's and children's there, or you could do some other health-related activity. That is the best I information I can provide to the house.