Royal Adelaide Hospital

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (14:34): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Treasurer questions regarding tenders for the new Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: Price has become one of the greatest bargaining tools when tendering for state development projects and for the tenders themselves, and companies who are able to deliver a product within an agreeable time frame, offering the cheapest price, are often the successful companies, but it's come to my attention that, whilst they may tender the cheapest price, certainly in several cases, they are actually not tendering like for like.

Allegations of deceptive tendering have come to my attention, particularly in regard to work to be completed on the new Royal Adelaide site, whereby certain operators have excluded necessary equipment costs within the tender thus artificially deflating the cost to government. Of course, once the tender is successful, the operators then create variations to the contract to extract further payment from the government for necessary items. This, of course, creates budgetary issues for the state and excludes genuinely competitive and complete tenders from being successful, potentially from other bidders. I am advised that this has occurred on a few occasions and, obviously, needs to be addressed. My questions to the minister are:

1. Will the government commit to reviewing the tender process and policies to ensure that only compliant tenders that will deliver all the necessary criteria and items as required are the successful ones and that variations to tenders are reduced, if not eliminated completely?

2. How many variations to tenders have been made on the new Royal Adelaide site, and what has that cost the taxpayer to date?

3. Will the government ensure that all tenders are published on the SA Tenders & Contracts website, including the successful tenders to ensure transparency in the selection process?

4. Will the government allow South Australian hospitals to consider having equipment supplied by other companies, or will they be locked into buying off the tender, as per the current process?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:36): I thank the honourable member for his questions and his interest in these matters. I will take those questions and seek a reply from the Treasurer.