Royal Adelaide Hospital Car Park

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (14:15): My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier update the house on the recent reductions in long-term car parking at the new Royal Adelaide Hospital and how this is making it more affordable for families and carers to access our state's hospitals?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:15): Sir, I would be delighted to update the house on this commitment. We made it in the lead-up to the election, as you would be aware. We want to lower costs of living for people who are struggling. They are struggling because, under the previous regime, we had very large increases in costs of living, whether it be energy, whether it be water, or whether it be parking your car when you were going to visit somebody at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. In fact, when those opposite left the treasury bench, the weekly car park pass at the Royal Adelaide Hospital was costing $65. This is a real imposition on people while they were there visiting their loved ones.

We have already taken action. We are committed to lowering the cost of living in South Australia, and that's exactly and precisely what we are going to be doing. I have great pleasure updating the house today that the weekly car park pass has now been reduced from $65 per week to $38. This will be news to those opposite, who always liked to see taxes, fees, charges, fines going up. Now there's a new government in town, we like to see those things coming down and put more money in people's pocket. Do you know what they do when they have got more money in their pocket? They go out and spend it in the economy. When they spend it in the economy, what happens? More jobs, and that's exactly and precisely what we stand for in this government: lower costs, more jobs, and that's exactly what we will be doing.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: There's a lot of bleating over there, sir, but the reality is there is a new game in town, and that is about lowering costs for families, creating more jobs, growing our economy and keeping our young people in South Australia.

We have listened to the concerns of patients and their families about the cost of regularly visiting our state's major hospital, the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and we have taken action. We want to ensure long-stay parking costs are similar across all our hospitals, no matter if you're visiting in the south or the north or in the city, and that's what we have been implementing.

We have also asked SA Health to conduct a review of the existing exemption scheme across other hospitals and to look at providing extra support to a range of consumers, not just the families of long-stay patients. I look forward to being able to come back to this parliament sometime in the future and being able to give the results of that review. The review will also examine potential subsidies for patients with frequent outpatient appointments, parents or carers of young patients, relatives or carers of long-stay patients and the family and friends of palliative care patients.

Mr Bignell interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Before I call the member for West Torrens, I call to order the member for Mawson for making a ticking noise between the questions and the answers. This is not 60 Minutes. The member for West Torrens.