Parliamentary Committees

Legislative Review Committee: Western Hospital at Henley Beach Petition

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION (Taylor—Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Housing Infrastructure, Minister for Planning) (14:03): I seek the leave of the house to explain my response with respect to the report of the Legislative Review Committee on the Legislative Council Petition No. 50 of the First Session of the Fifty-Fifth Parliament: Western Hospital at Henley Beach.

Leave granted.

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: I can inform the house that I have recently responded to the Legislative Council on this petition. Specifically, as requested by the committee, I have responded as Minister for Planning to the recommendations of the report. The petition was tabled by the member for Colton in the house on 7 March 2024, and was signed by 11,134 residents of South Australia.

The petitioners requested that the house urge the state government to ensure the future of the Western Hospital at Henley Beach and, in particular, ensure that the land on which the hospital sits remains zoned for healthcare services into the future. There is no current zone in our planning system that would limit the land use solely to a hospital, as the member for Colton is requesting.

The Malinauskas Labor government shares the desires of the petitioners for the Western Hospital to remain a viable and functioning private hospital for the community. However, using the state's planning system to achieve this outcome would likely prove ineffective and have unintended consequences. For this reason, the request to ensure the land on which the Western Hospital sits remains zoned for healthcare services in the future is misguided, and no action will be taken by me as Minister for Planning.