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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-05-04 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

ROYAL ADELAIDE HOSPITAL

The Hon. I.F. EVANS (Davenport) (15:06): Madam Speaker, today I wish to call on the government to establish a royal commission into Australia Post, and the reason I want it to establish a royal commission into Australia Post is that someone is stealing the government's mail.

A letter was put out today by a citizen of interest who had an interest in the Royal Adelaide Hospital project, and he mailed the letter to a number of the media outlets, a number of members of the opposition, the Premier, the Deputy Premier and the Minister for Health—

Mrs Redmond: And the Treasurer.

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: —and the Treasurer—and it had the Macquarie private equity document regarding the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Everyone else got the document. Every media outlet got the document and the members of the opposition got the document but four people did not get the document: the Premier, the Deputy Premier, the Minister for Health and the Treasurer.

Someone is stealing the mail, Madam Speaker. Someone is stealing the royal mail. Someone is undermining the government, and the thing that is undermining the government is its deception. This is a deceptive, false and phoney government. Its deception before the election is simply unbelievable.

It deceived the public about its knowledge about the oval cost blowout. It deceived the public with its promise of $450 million and not 1¢ more. It deceived the public about its knowledge about the public sector comparator. It deceived the public about its promise not to privatise our forests and it deceived the public about the cost to the taxpayer of delivering the new Royal Adelaide Hospital project.

The reason that it deceived the public is that its budget is in a very poor position. Its budget is under pressure. It deceived the public during the election to hide its budget position; and remember that it was the Minister for Forests who let the cat out of the bag when he said that they were in such a bad position that, after eight years of Kevin Foley as treasurer, the state was borrowing money to pay the public sector's wages.

So, let us get to the hospital. Now, the Minister for Health makes great play about the member for Davenport and the member for Davenport's figures. Well, let us just go through what I said. I said that it was the Macquarie Bank document that showed the cost of delivering the project being $2.73 billion. The day that it is delivered to the government the cost is $2.73 billion.

Now, the Macquarie Bank did not come out and say that I was wrong. The Macquarie Bank did not come out and say, 'The member for Davenport's wrong.' The government could have rung Macquarie Bank any time over the last few weeks, got a copy of the document, held the document out and said, 'The member for Davenport's wrong.' That did not happen; and, if the mail thief had not stolen the Premier's copy, the Deputy Premier's copy, the Minister for Health's copy or the Treasurer's copy, they could have done that today. They did not.

Now, the around $11 billion simply comes from averaging out the service payments across the term of the contract in the Macquarie document. If that is not true, let the government come out and say it, let Macquarie Bank come out and say it. These are not the member for Davenport's figure per say, they are estimates of the Macquarie Bank's own documents. I challenge the government to come out and say which figure in the Macquarie Bank document is wrong. Which figure is wrong? The Macquarie Bank document would have been prepared based on government figures. They go into the market for investors. There are strict probity conditions about those figures, so if the Macquarie Bank document is wrong, let the government point to it.

This government is about building monuments to itself. It is going to build these monuments and then leave. The Premier will leave, the former treasurer will leave. Minister Conlon is on record, I understand, on radio today saying he is not sure what his future holds. The reality is that the Minister for Health, in my view, will sign this contract and not contest the next election.

This is a government that is going to leave us a legacy. It is not the buildings it is going to leave as a legacy. The legacy it is going to leave is a typical Labor legacy, and that is high debt and high liabilities. People from within government are contacting the opposition saying that even the cabinet has been told that the capital cost is that 2.7 figure. The reality is these are Macquarie Bank figures, we understand, based on the government's advice to Macquarie Bank. What we have is a deceptive, false and phoney government.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

Time expired.

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