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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-03-03 Daily Xml
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ROYAL ADELAIDE HOSPITAL

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (14:39): My question is to the Minister for Health. How can the people of South Australia have confidence in his cost estimates for a proposed rebuild of the RAH when it has changed by hundreds of millions of dollars from year to year? According to documents signed by the minister and sent to doctors, the government argued at the time of the 2006 election campaign that the RAH could be rebuilt and upgraded for around $560 million. In June 2007, the government advised that a five stage rebuild of the RAH would cost $1.38 billion. The health minister has in the last few days been reported in the press as claiming a new figure: that the cost estimate has now jumped to $2.2 billion.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (14:40): I understand that grappling with figures is difficult for the opposition. That is why they have not brought any out in relation to the costing of their proposition. They promised to build a new hospital on the existing RAH site. That is the promise made by the Leader of the Opposition: he will build a new hospital on the RAH site. We have no figures and no explanation as to how he is going to do it, and he expects the public of South Australia to believe him and trust him.

He wants to do that because, down the road, he wants to build a $1.5 billion stadium. Let us be clear about what we are talking about here. What we are talking about is a totally rebuilt RAH on a new site. We have worked out the figures and, as I have said to the leader and the deputy leader, I am happy to go through it in detail with him. When the leader referred to the various figures, he was referring to different things at different times.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: The trained laughter—I imagine that, in their caucus meetings, they do not actually discuss policy issues, they just train together on how to laugh, give the mock laughter.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. J.D. HILL: I would say to the member: if his party had put on the table at any stage in the last year or so—or at any stage in the next few weeks—how they would build a new hospital on the existing RAH site, had it costed, explained how big it would be and how long it would take, I would take them seriously, but they do not do that. They ask questions to which I am prepared to give the answers but, when I start giving the answers, they mock, they interrupt and they talk over me. They do not want to hear the facts. The facts are that we have thought this through very carefully—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Deputy Leader of the Opposition is warned.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Mr Speaker, they think that by bullying and talking over me, interrupting, and by their mocking laughter they can avoid the policy vacuum at the heart of their politics. They claim to be able to build a new hospital on the existing site. They will not tell us for how much, they will not tell us how long it will take, and they will not tell us how big it will be. What I am telling them is that we have costed all the available options, and there are different figures for the different options. I went through some of those before. Of course, when you quote a price in one year, you take into account the escalation which would be associated with that, and it would be projected through to a particular finishing date. If you start at a different time, of course, the prices change, and the variations that the Leader of the Opposition—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for MacKillop!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: I am glad that the member for MacKillop interrupted and asked that question, because if he, too, would like to come to the briefing that I am providing, I will go through the escalation costs. The typical industry escalator is about 6 per cent, as I understand it. When I announced the figure of $1.7 billion a year and a half ago, it included escalation over the course of the length of the project, so it is all included. I am happy to provide the member with the breakdown. I have given the figures—and the leader presumably has them, because they have been handed out to doctors from the RAH—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: No, you don't understand. You are too simple.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: You're a simpleton.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Patrick, could you allow me to handle this without your assistance, though it is appreciated.

The figures that I have just referred to have been distributed to a number of doctors from the RAH who came to see me. I have also provided those figures to the media. The escalation is based on building industry standard calculations, and it has been finalised that the new hospital will work from our team of advisers, including outside advisers Ernst & Young.

Just in relation to the issue of the Royal North Shore, I just make the point that the Royal North Shore Hospital is able to be built on that site, because there is extra space there for it to be built adjacent to the existing hospital. No such space exists at the RAH and, of course, it is a smaller hospital. The hospital that is being built at Royal North Shore is for 502 new beds. We want to build 800 beds. There is a whole range of differences between the two factors. I can assure the leader and the deputy leader that the costings are as accurate as we can get them, and I will be happy to go through the details with them if they would like to take up my invitation.

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