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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-05-13 Daily Xml
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Question Time

ROYAL ADELAIDE HOSPITAL

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (14:07): My question is to the Premier. Why is he seeking to deny the people of South Australia their right to vote on the choice of a new hospital in the rail yards or a renewed RAH at its present site?

Members interjecting:

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: You never put this to the people.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: Today, the Treasurer said that a new medical research centre, announced in last night's commonwealth budget, would commence construction at the rail yard site before the next election.

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:08): I am very pleased to answer this question because I can remember the government in which you were a starring member for about two months. I remember what happened was that I believed—

Ms CHAPMAN: On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: No, you do not want to hear it, do you?

The SPEAKER: A point of order, the deputy leader.

Ms CHAPMAN: Mr Speaker, as much as a starring member you may be, you have not been a member of the former government. I ask that the Premier be brought to order to address the response through you.

The SPEAKER: I remind all members to refer to other members in the third person. The Premier.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Thank you, sir, and I want to acknowledge your starring role in this chamber. I guess the message is this: we all remember a government that went to the people in 1997 on a promise that it would never ever sell ETSA. I said, because I was getting documents that were authentic, that I believed that—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: One day we will tell you where we got them from. The point of the matter is that I said that I did not believe their pledge. The then deputy premier went on television and said, 'We will not sell ETSA, full stop, full stop, full stop.' Straight after the election, of course, the premier marched in here and they were selling ETSA.

So there was a clear view expressed by the people of South Australia that they did not want their electricity assets sold. Both parties signed up to that pledge, and one party broke its promise straight afterwards. We made a pledge to rebuild our health system, and we went to the people at the last election and health was at the centre of what we pledged to rebuild. We stopped the privatisation of the hospitals by our predecessors. In fact, one of the best examples in the world of reverse privatisation was when we brought back the Modbury Hospital into the Public Service.

So, let me say this. We were elected at the last election with a record majority for a Labor government, and at the very heart of our election was a fundamental commitment to deliver to the people of this state the best health and hospital services possible.

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