Question Time

Forensic Science Centre

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (14:19): I seek leave to make a brief explanation prior to asking a question of the Attorney-General regarding the South Australian forensic centre.

Leave granted.

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI: The 2024-25 budget revealed that the South Australian forensic centre will be delivered more than $13 million over budget. When asked during estimates about that fact, the Attorney said the reason for the blowout was that, and I quote, 'The original budget of $348.9 million excluded land-related costs.' So my questions to the Attorney are:

1. When did the government become aware that land would be needed to be purchased for the project?

2. What was the government's original plan for where the new forensic centre would be built?

3. Why did the government at no point in the last three budgets account for land acquisition requirements for the project?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (14:20): I thank the honourable member for her question. I think it was yesterday morning on ABC radio, this was thoroughly traversed. I assume the honourable member might have been listening to Matt and Dave instead and didn't hear what happened on the radio yesterday.

The forensic centre—about $350 million was put in I think two budgets ago to build a new state-of-the-art forensic centre in South Australia. It is somewhat astounding that those opposite would seek to criticise the allocation of a significant amount of money for a new facility because it stands in contrast to the policy that the Liberal Party had to do nothing about it. In all their time in government, they didn't allocate anything—nothing in a budget for a new centre.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: We have allocated in excess of a third of a billion dollars for a new forensic centre so that a purpose-built centre matches the level and the standard of the expertise that we have in the scientists who are world regarded. Off the top of my head, it was about $348 million that was allocated a couple of budgets ago. We have been doing work refining the scope and exactly what's needed and, importantly, where the facility might go.

My advice is it had been hoped there might be land that the state government already owned that would be suitable for the centre to be built on. My advice is, having not been able to find suitable land, we are in the process of looking for private sector land for it to be built on. Those opposite—I don't know if they think land is for free everywhere, but not having found suitable land that's already owned by the state, we are now in the process of looking for land that is suitable for this purpose-built centre from the private market and that will require extra funding. It is about $13 million that has been additionally put into the budget for the land that we haven't been able to source from the land we already own.