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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-11-15 Daily Xml
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Women's and Children's Hospital

Ms HOOD (Adelaide) (14:30): My question is to the Premier. Is the Premier aware of any updates regarding the new Women's and Children's Hospital?

Mr Teague interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Heysen!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:30): I want to thank the member for Adelaide for her important question. The member for Adelaide, I think, was as horrified as I was when we learnt, after forming government, that the former government had a plan to build a women's and children's hospital that was going to be too small the day that it opened—too small the day that it opened. They had a plan to build a hospital—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Schubert, member for Florey, member for Adelaide!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —that was going to be too small, that was going to lock in the Royal Adelaide—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —from ever being expanded into the future. It wasn't supported by virtually any clinicians at all. As a government, we decided—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —not surprisingly, on the advice of almost every expert that we could find, to revisit that plan.

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hartley!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: We made a decision to build a brand-new women's and children's hospital, not on a site that was going to be constrained to be too small—

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hartley!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —but on one that would set us up for the future; to set us up for the long-term. There is no doubt—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —that by choosing to build the hospital on the women's and children's site, that we were opening ourselves up—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert is warned.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —to political criticism. We were going to give our political opponents a few things to play with to complain about—

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Chaffey!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —and they have walked straight into that trap. They are out there every day trying to find failings in building a bigger, newer hospital, but I am very pleased to report that, as part of the government's commitment to making sure that we preserve Parklands—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Chaffey! Member for Hartley!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —we decided to do a proactive referral to the—

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hartley!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, to the commonwealth, an EPBC referral. There are three types of responses when you do a self-referral for the commonwealth regulator to come back with. They can come back and say it is a 'controlled action,' a 'not controlled action with conditions', or a 'not controlled action without any conditions'. That latter category is hard to get. You have to be able to demonstrate to the regulator that this is a project that is actually going to have no impact on any of the conditions that exist in the act, that you are going to preserve heritage, and that you are going to get a right outcome in terms of green space and Parklands.

I am very pleased to report, in answer to the member for Adelaide's question, that under that EPBC referral, they have come back and said that it is a 'not controlled action' without any conditions whatsoever. So the commonwealth regulator has given the new Women's and Children's Hospital a tick for heritage and a tick for Parklands, because this project is going to see more Parklands returned—

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hammond!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —and this site invested in and improved. So when we get to the beginning—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Morialta!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —of the 2030s, and the new Women's and Children's Hospital is opening, every South Australian—

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hartley!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —will know that it was this Labor government that gave a better outcome for the Parklands, a better outcome—

Mr Brown interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for Florey!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —for this heritage site but, most critically, a better outcome for women and children in this state with a hospital that will last. They will know that is what we stand for, and they will know—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Morialta!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —that that is everything that the Liberal Party stands against.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: Better outcomes for women and children, better outcomes for Parklands.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Adelaide! The member for Elizabeth!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order, sir.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Morialta has switched between interjecting and seeking to enforce the standing orders; nevertheless, I have to turn to him under 134, which I will do immediately.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Morialta.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Sir, it is standing order 98.

The SPEAKER: I will in the 10 seconds remaining listen carefully. The Premier.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: We stand for progress. They oppose it every step of the way.

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