Royal Adelaide Hospital

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (14:40): My question is again to the Minister for Health. The minister told the estimates committees that the new Royal Adelaide Hospital was going to be opened in April 2016. Given that there are two completion stages for the new Royal Adelaide Hospital—that is, the technical completion and then, three months later, the commercial acceptance—and it's the latter when the state can use the facility, can the minister tell the house whether it's a fact that both the South Australian Health Partnership and the state Department for Health (the government) have independently done third-party reviews and come up with a commercial acceptance for September next year?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:40): The Treasurer and I have both been on the public record about this since December last year, that our expectation, based upon independent advice, is the hospital is more likely than not to be delivered in the second half of 2016. We have been saying that for the last nine months; there is no surprise there.

The member for Morphett has either deliberately or unwittingly, perhaps, misstated what I said in the estimates committee. What I said in the estimates committee was consistent with what I have always said. The government has had its own advice, independent advice from consultants that we have engaged who have looked at the work schedule, and their advice to government suggests that the time for us being able to run the hospital—so closure, I guess—and our ability to move from the old hospital to the new hospital was more likely to be in the second half of 2016.

At the Mid-Year Budget Review, the Department of Treasury and the Treasurer made a decision to reprofile that on the basis of that independent advice but, from December last year, we have always been very, very clear that, while that is the expectation of government and we have budgeted accordingly, the builder has not sought to change the contract and, publicly and privately, has said that they are still working towards April 2016 for being the date that we take possession and run the hospital.

As far as my department and our preparations for moving into the new hospital are concerned, we are working on the basis of April 2016 because we certainly don't want there to be any delays on our account. However, we do so in the knowledge that we had this independent advice, which the member for Morphett has just alluded to, which says that it's more likely to be in the second half of 2016. So, all we can do is wait until such a time as the builder comes to us seeking an alteration of the contract.

They may or may not do that, we will see, but if they do seek an alteration of the contract, then we will engage with them, we will negotiate that in good faith with them and we will inform the public at such a time as that should occur, but the builder has said nothing privately to me that they have not said publicly. I have stood next to Mr Peter Salveson, who is the director of the project, in front of all the TV cameras. He has been directly asked the question and he has been unambiguous in his answers.

The SPEAKER: I have a note from Hansard asking members to make sure their microphones remain upright. The two microphones I see down are those of the member for Stuart and the member for Adelaide. I will, whether their microphones are up or not, hear their disorderly conduct, if there is any. The member for Morphett.