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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-07-15 Daily Xml
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GLENSIDE HOSPITAL REDEVELOPMENT

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg) (14:45): My question is to the Premier. Will the government at least reverse its priorities and advance the mental health facility at Glenside before the Premier's film hub? We have just heard from the Premier about his priority to mental health. However, in December last year the Treasurer announced a two year delay in construction of the new Glenside facility, while progressing the Premier's $43 million film hub on the same site. Numerous coronial inquiries have recommended the extension of these services and the chair of the Parole Board has now said:

We have people frequently falling into this category [affected by drugs] who do need to be detained but James Nash House isn't the suitable place for them and there really is nowhere else. Recent events illustrate that it is an ongoing concern; unfortunately nothing has been done about it.

It should also be noted that the construction of the new forensic mental health facility to replace James Nash House has been cancelled in this year's budget yet the film hub is being progressed.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Federal/State Relations) (14:46): I am happy to take the question in the absence of the minister.

Ms Chapman: It was a question to the Premier.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: And I am the Treasurer. The Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse is not with us. I am the Treasurer and I will answer it.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I am a little disoriented. I am used to talking to Vickie over there, but she has moved down the board a little bit.

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: That's what Christopher Pyne will do for you!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Yes. As we have said from the very beginning, the government has a substantial, aggressive capital works program that we are delivering for the betterment of this state. Something occurred in October last year—the global financial crisis. What that required of government was to make some very hard decisions. We had to reschedule a substantial amount of our capital program, as it related to the new prisons. We had to cancel the new prisons project and, by cancelling that, we also cancelled the new secure mental health facility.

Mr Pisoni: And you imported swimming pools.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Imported swimming pools? Anything arriving in your letterbox lately? You must be very happy with your track record in recent months. You destroyed a leader, destroyed a deputy leader and destroyed the career of the member for MacKillop—and you get promoted! I have never understood the Liberal Party. This guy ends the career of a leader, ends the career of a deputy leader, ends the career of the member for MacKillop yet ends up on the front bench. That is a bizarre logic.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson: He betrayed everyone!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: The Liberal Party of South Australia will never cease to amaze me, how they can knife each other. Ultimately, at budget time we announced that we have put aside an allocation to deal with the capacity issues of the state's prison system. We have put aside a contingency that will be available to expand the men's prison system and, amongst that resource, money is available for high security mental health prisoners and patients, as well as issues to do with youth detention. We are working through those issues. I will give an absolute commitment to the house that there will be more than adequate secure facilities available for those who are mentally disturbed and require the most stringent high security detention. Government, through a global financial crisis, is a difficult task. We have had to make some hard decisions that in any other economic framework we would not have to make. What this government has demonstrated, as we had our AAA credit rating reaffirmed by Standard and Poor's and Moody's, is that it has been able to take decisive action in response—

Mr Williams: Backflips!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Backflips? I think you have done a backflip. He has done a backflip. He has gone from the front bench to the back bench. That is not a bad backflip. This government has demonstrated its ability to manage this economy through the global financial crisis, and we have been able to make hard decisions that have been in the best interests of this state's financial and economic security. We do not resile from the fact that, after seven years of government, we have demonstrated that we are the government of ideas, we are the government of economic management and we are the government of vision. Whilst the opposition fights amongst themselves, whilst the opposition is only worried about their own jobs, this government will continue to govern in the best interests of South Australia.

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