Health Infrastructure

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (14:59): My question is directed to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Will the minister update the council on health infrastructure initiatives in South Australia?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:00): I certainly can. I thank the honourable member for his question. The Marshall Liberal government's second budget is a budget that is building for the future of South Australia. That is as true in health as it is right across the government.

As I have already mentioned to the house, I had the pleasure of visiting the Women and Children's Hospital with the Premier this morning and talking to clinicians and patients about the importance of this government's commitment, supported by an initial investment of $550 million—slightly more than 50—to co-locate the new Women's and Children's Hospital with the Royal Adelaide Hospital. This is an exciting investment but it is not the only public health infrastructure investment this government is undertaking.

First and foremost, our plan is to reactivate the Repat as a genuine health precinct, after Labor closed the Repatriation General Hospital and broke their promise to never, ever close the Repat. Building on the work that we have undertaken on this site, this week's budget includes $60 million for further works to expand the services offered at the Repat health precinct.

We have begun the stage 3 redevelopment of The QEH. Labor cancelled the redevelopment, redirecting the funds towards Transforming Health. We are upgrading the cardiac cath lab and we have restored the 24/7 cardiac services to the western suburbs after Labor stripped them from The QEH under Transforming Health. Work has begun on the $96 million upgrade to Modbury Hospital, another metropolitan hospital which was downgraded as part of Transforming Health. Both of these upgrades are part of undoing the damage of Labor's disastrous Transforming Health experiment. They are a sign that this government is actively cleaning up Labor's mess.

We are continuing to address the backlog of country capital works left under 16 years of Labor's neglect, with an investment of $140 million over 10 years. We have invested a further $50 million in individual projects across regional South Australia, including $2 million for renal dialysis at Mount Gambier, and nearly $8 million for the Murray Bridge Soldiers' Memorial Hospital.

The Marshall Liberal government is working to fix Labor's mess and, in doing so, we are building the infrastructure needed to support the ongoing delivery of public health services in South Australia today and into the future.