Question Time

Royal Adelaide Hospital

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:01): Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. My question is to the Minister for Health. Can the minister clarify when he first heard about the latest delay for the new Royal Adelaide Hospital technical completion? Was it Monday, as he stated yesterday in the house, or was it January, as he is now informing media outlets?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:01): Oh dear, okay. Let's go through this—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: I do not know where the Leader of the Opposition was, but in January I called a press conference and at that press conference I said that, while—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: —the builder was adamant that the hospital would be completed—that there would be technical completion in April—we had alternative advice that was telling us quite differently and that the hospital could be as late as two months, and I think the Hon. Stephen Wade even quoted me quite helpfully on radio because I did not have my transcript to hand. I thank the Hon. Stephen Wade for clarifying that for me on radio this morning. They were my exact words: that the hospital, we thought, would be about two months late.

Mr Marshall: Why did you give the answer you gave to the parliament yesterday?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: The question over when I found out from the builder about the lateness was yesterday afternoon when I was told by my chief executive. But, as I say, this only confirmed what we already suspected.

The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Kavel, Hartley, Schubert, Mount Gambier, Mitchell, Stuart and the leader—could the leader be seated—who opened up on the minister before he had uttered a complete sentence, and one couldn't say that he was debating the matter at that point. The member for Giles.