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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-04-06 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

ROYAL ADELAIDE HOSPITAL

The Hon. I.F. EVANS (Davenport) (15:14): In the last few question times the Treasurer and the Minister for Health have been telling the opposition and the public, 'Don't worry, all the costs to do with the new Royal Adelaide Hospital will be revealed.' They will all be revealed as if there is some change of policy and they are going to suddenly, in some great act of honesty, reveal the cost of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital project to the public. Well, Madam Speaker, this ragbag, slapdash, sideshow of the government is not known for its honesty.

The opposition can reveal today that the cost of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital project is $2.73 billion—$2.73 billion. When the hospital is built in 2016, when the contract to manage the hospital starts to operate, the cost to construct the hospital up to that point is $2.73 billion.

Remember the dishonesty during the campaign? The government said it was $1.7 billion and then it was revealed later that it was $1.8 billion. The government misled the public during the whole campaign on that particular issue, and it misled the public for the whole campaign on the issue of the cost of the Adelaide Oval. We had a treasurer who the only thing he could remember was what he had to forget.

What we have now is a Royal Adelaide Hospital project that is not $1 million more, it is not $10 million more, it is not $100 million more, it is $1,000 million more than what the South Australian public were told during the election campaign—$1,000 million more. That is not the opposition's figure, that is the figure from the Macquarie Private Bank document entitled, 'The New Royal Adelaide Hospital Equity Information Presentation', dated January 2011, so it is current.

This is the document that the Macquarie Bank is using to seek private investors into the hospital. If you go to page 22 of the document it talks about the total use of funds come 2016, and the total use of funds come 2016 is $2.73 billion. So, this is not the opposition giving this figure, it comes from the Macquarie document being sent to private investors to invest in this project—$1,000 million more than the South Australian public were told.

Let us make this clear. This is not the management contract, the day-in, day-out management contract over 29 years. It is not that cost. This is the cost to have the facility ready at the end of 2016, and then from that point on the South Australian public will pay a service payment for the next 29 years. This $2.73 billion figure, including the extra $1,000 million, is built into that contract over the 29 years.

That is going to be a huge cost to the South Australian public. What do we have? We have a Premier who is on his last leg and about to go, the former treasurer has already stepped down from the treasurer's position, and the rumour is that the Minister for Health will not be there at the next election. They are going to sign it up and go. Those three key people are going to sign it up and go and leave the South Australian public to pay the debt for the next 29 years.

The government says this is all about transferring the risk. The public should ask this one simple question: we are transferring the risk at what cost? We now know the cost is an extra $1,000 million, a total cost of $2.73 billion. The opposition brings that to the public's attention. It is the Macquarie's document and the government should hang its head in shame.

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