Question Time

LABOR PARTY POLICY

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:27): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Police, the Leader of the Government in this place, a question about Labor Party policy.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: In the Premier's 2006 election policy on health, he stated, 'I commit Labor to the redevelopment of the Royal Adelaide Hospital.' Then again, in a media release dated 12 March 2006, he said, 'I promise to redevelop the Royal Adelaide Hospital.' Yesterday at a media conference, the Premier said that he had a mandate to bulldoze the Royal Adelaide Hospital and commit taxpayers to a multi-billion-dollar new private hospital built by a private consortium under ongoing finance arrangements to be funded from the health budget through to 2046; but that decision has never been put to the people of South Australia. My questions are:

1. Why has the government abandoned its promise made to South Australians during the 2002 and 2006 election campaigns to redevelop the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and why won't the government take the promise of the new Marjorie Jackson-Nelson hospital to the 2010 election?

2. Which decisions of parliament will be required to enable this multibillion dollar financing deal for the hospital at City West to proceed and, if decisions need to be made, what form will they take and when will they be brought to parliament?

3. Will the government need to change the Parklands Act to ensure the building of the Marjorie Jackson-Nelson hospital and, if so, when does the minister intend to bring that legislation to the parliament?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (14:29): In relation to the latter question, the answer is no. Now that the master plan has been released, as Minister for Urban Development and Planning I will consider proceeding with the ministerial development plan amendment for the site of the new hospital. In relation to the first question, it is not extraordinary that the Labor Party said that it will redevelop the Royal Adelaide Hospital because it is, quite frankly, passed it. You only have to go down there and have a look at it.

So, what the government has done following the election, having looked at the options, is come up with a brand new site just a few hundred metres down the road from the old RAH. We have a brand new site for a new hospital for Adelaide; if that is not redevelopment, I do not know what is. I am sure that the people of South Australia fully understand it, even if the opposition does not.