Repatriation General Hospital

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:20): My question is to the Premier. Given the Chief Psychiatrist's public statements that Ward 18 at the Repat may have ongoing use—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Newland is called to order.

Mr MARSHALL: They seem pretty excited about this question, sir. Hopefully, we will get an answer today. Shall I start again?

The SPEAKER: Away you go.

Mr MARSHALL: Given the Chief Psychiatrist's public statements that Ward 18 at the Repat may have ongoing use as part of Older Persons Mental Health Services, will the government exclude Ward 18 from the sale or negotiate with ACH for the government to retain the asset for the medium term?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:21): No, we won't. It is part of the contract that we have with ACH Group, who no doubt will put those facilities to very good use. It is important to put the remarks of the Chief Psychiatrist in context. He noted that Ward 18 was one of a number of options and required modification to be used for the purposes that the Leader of the Opposition is indicating.

I stand by what I have said, and the advice I have had is that Ward 18 wouldn't be suitable for the long-term needs of patients, such as those who were previously at Oakden. We have a good outcome with those patients being relocated to Northgate and, of course, the commitment in the budget to build a new facility.