Proton Therapy Unit

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:57): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing, the Hon. Stephen Wade, about the proton beam therapy unit proposed for the new Royal Adelaide Hospital:

1. Can the minister give us an update on the progress of getting this unit established, and have due diligence inquiries into the developer, Proton, been completed?

2. Can he release the results of those inquiries?

3. Has it been established whether this developer has managed to deliver a working unit?

4. Has any funding for the $325 million project been received and allocated?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:57): I thank the honourable member for his question. If I can take the liberty of editing it as we go, the proton therapy unit is not intended for the Royal Adelaide Hospital, it is intended for the basement of the proposed SAHMRI II facility. The 2017-18 federal budget confirmed that the commonwealth government was willing to provide $68 million to South Australia to support the establishment of a proton therapy unit in South Australia.

The proton therapy unit will be the first of its kind in Australia and will provide significant advances in how we manage cancer. Therapy will particularly improve the treatment options for patients with particular cancers and, if I may say so, particularly for children. I won't try to mislead the house by suggesting that I have a great depth of scientific understanding, but it has been explained to me that the precision of proton therapy units is particularly useful for children with cancers because it so localises the cancer treatment that it minimises the damage on surrounding tissue and therefore is of great benefit to treating children and those with cancers in the brain that are close to other critical structures.

The honourable member is correct that the proton therapy unit is going through appropriate due diligence processes. It is a normal process for the commonwealth and the state to go through due diligence, both technical and in other forms.

I should stress that we are not the primary partner—the grant is to SAHMRI. There is a relationship with the state government, and certainly the state government is involved and is very keen for this project. It will be a key asset within the biomedical precinct on North Terrace. There have been technical tests in recent weeks. I am yet to receive an update on how they have gone, but we are very optimistic that this will prove to be a great health asset on the North Terrace precinct.