Proton Therapy in South Australia

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (14:28): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Will proton therapy be delivered in South Australia and, if so, when? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mrs HURN: Last night, 7NEWS reported that the proton therapy unit plan for South Australia will likely be shelved.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:28): I read that entire transcript of the interview with the federal health minister last night and when I say it was a pretty partisan interview, it was about, basically, a local journalist, I think in Victoria, being pretty keen to try to get a proton therapy unit in Victoria. When I read those responses, what I saw was a commonwealth government that is looking at options, but obviously South Australia is well placed. We are dealing with some legacy contracts signed by the previous government, which I have to say are unique in their concept.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I am talking about the indemnity you gave to a—

Mr Telfer interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Interrupting and running your hand in the air is not the same as asking a question. If you are worried about this, why don't you ask this question?

Mr Telfer interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Flinders will stop with the constant interjections and commentary.

An honourable member: He's answering his question, sir.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: He's trying to answer something. As I said, after reading the transcript of that entire article, I am confident that South Australia is best placed to have a proton therapy unit here in South Australia. We have done everything possible to work towards this. Obviously, we have challenges, but we are working through those, and I am quietly confident, of course, that we can do this.

The proton therapy project remains at a juncture. Major building works at the Australian Bragg Centre were completed in 2023. In October 2024, SAHMRI terminated its contract with ProTom International and the supply of the proton therapy machine due to being unable to deliver it under the contract.

As a result, it won't be delivered as planned. We have spoken about this publicly, and there is some action underway, but I am convinced the commonwealth government are looking for an alternative funding option. I think that will work out well for South Australia. We will wait and see what the commonwealth government come back with, but no doubt other states are looking at this as well. This is something that will serve South Australia well. We have teams working up, being ready to deliver these services, and I am quietly confident that South Australian will prevail.