Women's and Children's Hospital

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee) (14:42): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier advise the house how much debt will need to be accrued beyond the $33 billion outlined in yesterday's state budget to fully fund the Women's and Children's Hospital project?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:42): It's another very important project and a very big contrast between what we are offering there and what those opposite promised. Let me refresh the memories of those people here. In 2013, we went out and said that we would be making sure that we had a co-located Women's and Children's Hospital with the new Royal Adelaide Hospital. Those opposite matched that, but then soon after the 2014 election they said, 'No, that's not exactly what we meant. We are going to split the Women's and Children's Hospital into two.'

That's not what the clinicians advised, so what we are doing, by contrast to the advice that they received that informed that decision after the 2014 election and also in contrast to the way that they went about setting up and delivering the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, is that we are listening to clinicians.

There is a lot of detailed work because it is very expensive to the taxpayers if you get this wrong. If we need to have a case study on that, just take a look at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. We have had to spend an extraordinary sum of money, which should be outlined in this chamber at some point, fixing the problems associated with the new Royal Adelaide Hospital. Now we've got the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, so that is there. What we don't want to do is repeat the problems and the significantly high cost problems that the previous government had with the new Royal Adelaide Hospital with the new Women's and Children's Hospital, so we are sitting down and we are doing that detailed work.

You would have seen, sir, in the budget that was delivered a further increase in the budget for the Women's and Children's Hospital. That won't be the total budget. We want to make sure that we get a world-class facility here in South Australia, so it won't be the total budget but we have made sure that over the forward estimates we have fully provided for what we believe will be the very best outcome for women and children in South Australia.