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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-06-07 Daily Xml
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ROYAL ADELAIDE HOSPITAL

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (14:38): My question is directed to the Premier. Can the Premier advise the house when work is expected to start on the new Royal Adelaide Hospital?

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) (14:39): Yesterday, a major milestone in the delivery of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital passed, when the Treasurer, Minister for Health and I announced financial closure on the contract with SA Health Partnership to build, operate and maintain the new hospital.

South Australian Health Partnership is made up of Leighton Contractors, Macquarie Capital Group, Hansen Yuncken and Spotless. SA Health Partnership took control of the site yesterday when financial close was reached. Next week, they will commence work on removing the foundation slab of the old rail sheds and will do further drilling of that area. Remediation and site preparation—in essence, digging a very big hole to put in the foundation and account for the site slope—will commence in July, and the foundation slab of the new hospital will be poured in early 2012.

When it is opened in 2016, it will provide a full range of complex medical, surgical, diagnostic and support services including 800 beds, 100 per cent single inpatient bedrooms with ensuites (80 per cent will have a view of the River Torrens but 100 per cent will have ensuite facilities both for privacy and infection control); 40 identical technical suites (operating theatres, intervention suites and procedure rooms that will each be 65 square metres); 181 recovery spaces; and 78 emergency treatment and eight resuscitation spaces.

Leading-edge technology will be incorporated in the design so that supplies can be efficiently moved around using automated guided vehicles and automated ordering systems. Electronic tagging of biomedical and other clinical equipment will allow staff to quickly and easily locate equipment, saving time and increasing efficiency, and there will be capacity for five MRI machines, seven CT scanners and six linear accelerators.

There will be room to expand. The new RAH site is almost 13 hectares compared to the current RAH site of 5.6 hectares. There is also capacity for a 30 per cent expansion, still leaving two hectares of open space. Green space: the new RAH will have 2.7 hectares of courtyards, gardens and outdoor areas built into the hospital compared to less than 2,000 square metres at the current RAH, and most inpatient rooms will overlook the Torrens and Parklands with opening windows.

Let's have a look at the Liberals' position on the hospital because I am a little bit confused. Over the past couple of years, the Liberals have shifted their position on the new hospital.

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: You don't want to hear this, do you?

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order.

The Hon. M.D. Rann interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the Premier!

Mr WILLIAMS: First of all, the Premier is not responsible to the house for the Liberal Party's views—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: —and in going to this, he is going to debate.

The SPEAKER: I understand your point of view, and I will listen very carefully to what the Premier says. It is a bit premature yet to bring up a point of order.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: I think given that this is the subject of debate about alternative plans for hospitals, we saw in 2007—

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Bragg!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: It just reinforces my point of order. We are in question time and the Premier has just said, 'This is a debate about the hospital.' He has admitted himself that he is about to debate.

The SPEAKER: Order! Sit down. I would ask the Premier to get back to the substance of the question.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: So the Liberals at first supported—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: He is ignoring your ruling that you gave not two seconds before.

The SPEAKER: Order! Sit down. I will make that judgement, not you. The Premier.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: First of all they supported the City West site. Then they did a backflip and said they supported the existing site. Then they went back to the City West site.

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: This is clearly a debate. It is making a mockery of question time and a mockery of the parliament.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: It is making a mockery of the opposition's so many varied positions.

The SPEAKER: Order! Premier, sit down. Both of you, sit down. We have 24 minutes left of question time. There is still a substantial number of questions to get through.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, or I will call this question time to a halt! Premier, I would direct you back to the substance of the question, and I would ask that you finish as soon as you can.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Then they went to Keswick and then they went to Bowden-Brompton and so we have had so many positions from the Liberals that—

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order, the member for Finniss.

Mr PENGILLY: Ma'am, the Premier is deliberately ignoring your instruction to go back to the text of the question and is debating the matter. It is just ridiculous.

The SPEAKER: Order! I cannot say whether he deliberately ignored my instructions because I could not hear for all the noise coming from both sides of the house. Premier, have you finished your answer?

The Hon. M.D. RANN: I have.

The SPEAKER: Thank you. The member for Davenport.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. Foley interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Defence Industries will be quiet also.

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