House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-10-28 Daily Xml

Contents

GLENSIDE HOSPITAL REDEVELOPMENT

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg) (15:22): My question is to the—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for MacKillop and the member for Schubert!

Ms CHAPMAN: Thank you, Mr Speaker. My question is to the Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Is the $19 million for the redevelopment of James Nash House coming out of the $130 million budget for the redevelopment of Glenside Hospital?

On Friday last week the minister referred to the Glenside redevelopment as a '$130 million mental health and substance abuse hospital at Glenside'. Today, The Advertiser reported that the James Nash House redevelopment is part of the $130 million mental health overhaul.

The Hon. J.D. LOMAX-SMITH (Adelaide—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (15:22): I am really excited about the redevelopment of our mental health facilities. I cannot think of a better legacy to leave our community than a new 129 bed hospital—

Ms CHAPMAN: I have a point of order, sir. My question was not what the minister is excited about. My question was: is the $19 million part of the $130 million?

The SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order.

The Hon. J.D. LOMAX-SMITH: I am really delighted that over the last week we have made two very significant announcements, including the announcement last week by Monsignor Cappo that we would be going ahead with the rebuilding of Glenside Hospital to produce a new 129 bed hospital on this site ahead of the predicted schedule and some 18 months ahead of the predicted finish date so that the development would be ready for occupancy in the middle of 2010.

This week we have announced our plan to rebuild our mental health forensic facilities. Currently, that facility is spread across two sites, with 30 beds at Oakden on the James Nash House site and 10 beds in a closed secure ward on the Glenside site. The redevelopment of the hospital is separate from the forensic facilities. As members would recall, the forensic facilities were part of the proposed redevelopment of the prisons.

Since the deferral of that project and the reconfiguring of our plans for the prison development, of course we have had to look at our mental health forensic facilities. They are occupied by prisoners with mental illness, on the one hand, and also by those people who are regarded as unfit to plead in court, who are incarcerated and treated for a period of time. Those facilities are a separate development with separate funding lines.