Question Time

Royal Adelaide Hospital Site Redevelopment

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:15): My question is to the Premier. In the Premier's recent announcement of the development plans for the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site, did he omit proposals by the government's preferred proponent for new cultural facilities because some ministers oppose their inclusion?

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister for Housing and Urban Development) (14:15): I was somewhat unsurprised to see that there was an article published in a news outlet today talking about what is planned for the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site, and the suggestions which have been running aflame on Twitter from the opposition that these plans were somehow hidden or concealed or not revealed is pretty surprising because, if I think back about what has been released to the public, I can remember, for example, that an accusation of concealing these plans might not quite cut it, given that they were released and exposed on the front page of The Advertiser two weeks ago, or even earlier than that, on the front page of the Sunday Mail nearly a week before that.

If that is concealing it from hundreds of thousands of South Australians, if that is concealment, I stand guilty as charged. It is absolutely extraordinary that the South Australian Liberal Party says, 'No, we can't have residential on there,' from the member for Heysen, and then the Leader of the Opposition, while he was tripping over his tongue on talkback radio, says, 'No, that's not true. We had always said that we were open to mixed use. That includes residential. That's absolutely fine.'

Let's remember, Mr Speaker, who knocked off who over on that side. Of course, that is an absolute reflection of the sort of division that still remains over there. If you walk through the halls of this place outside of sitting times and you hear that soft click, click, clicking coming from some place up on level 2, if you push far enough into an office, if you expose that crack of light a little bit wider as the door opens, you will see the deputy leader there with her abacus furtively doing the numbers to see if she can build on that 13 which she got to only a few months ago. That's close—I will give her that. That is close but, as she would be used to, it's not close enough, is it, Vickie? It's not quite close enough.

The sorrowful performance from the Liberal Party on the position of the Royal Adelaide Hospital site redevelopment is dreadful. Can you imagine coming out and saying that in contemporary Adelaide perhaps what we need is some sort of health and biomedical precinct? I know the crowd on that side of the parliament don't get down west very much; I know they don't go down much past King William Street, let alone down to West Terrace, but it might come as some revelation to the Leader of the Opposition that there is a bit going on down there.

There is a large building that some refer to as the SAHMRI, containing hundreds and hundreds of medical researchers. There are a couple of other large buildings going up, one a new medical school and another a cancer centre from the University of South Australia.

Mr PENGILLY: I have a point of order. I suggest that the minister is debating the issue.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I think he is. I uphold the point of order. In that pause, I call to order the members for Hartley, Adelaide, Davenport, Chaffey, Morialta, Mitchell and Unley. I call to order the leader, the deputy leader and the Minister for Agriculture. I warn for the first time the deputy leader, the leader and the member for Morialta. I warn for the second and the final time the deputy leader.