Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-09-27 Daily Xml

Contents

Repatriation General Hospital

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:29): Supplementary question: how can the community have confidence when the minister is not willing to release the land management agreement, and the government's own planning document makes it clear that uses well beyond the health uses the minister has referred to will be permitted under the government's proposed rezoning of the site?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse) (14:30): I don't know how many times I can keep saying the same thing. The land management agreement is an important document that a lot of effort has been put into to ensure that the preservation of the Repat site is done in a way that is consistent with what the community reasonably expects.

We will be working on an ongoing basis with the ACH Group, with residents within the local community, to make sure they get an opportunity to provide input in terms of the way that site is used into the future. We are satisfied that the ACH Group, which of course is a proud South Australian company that has been providing outstanding services with respect to aged care after a long time in South Australia, has the track record, the connection to our community, to ensure that the Repat site is utilised in a productive and appropriate way for the community at large.

We are confident in that. We would expect the opposition would also share confidence in the ACH Group, as a proud South Australian company, having the capacity to do the same thing. We will be working with the local community on an ongoing basis. We look forward to working closely with the ACH Group to ensure the preservation of the Repat site is done in a way that is sympathetic to the culture of the site but also conscious of making sure that it is useful for generations into the future.