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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-08-24 Daily Xml
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Repat Health Precinct

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (15:39): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Can the minister update the council on returning surgery to the Repat?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:39): I would like to thank the honourable member for his question. At the last election, the Marshall Liberal government committed to returning surgery to the site of the much loved Repatriation General Hospital. That was the hospital that Labor said they would never close but did. That was the hospital that was closed by the Leader of the Opposition in the other place, the former Labor health minister, Mr Peter Malinauskas.

On Sunday, I had the pleasure to visit the Repat Health Precinct with the Premier and the local member for Elder, Carolyn Power, to announce that we are delivering on this promise. SA Health carried out an extensive process to identify a preferred partner. Nexus Hospitals was selected as the government's partner in delivering a range of surgeries to South Australia's public patients. Public patients will be able to access services such as ophthalmology; orthopaedics; plastics and reconstructive surgery; urology; colonoscopy; ear, nose and throat; and general surgery.

The Hon. I.K. Hunter interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Hunter!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: The Nexus site—

The Hon. I.K. Hunter interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: The Nexus site will be at the heart of the site, including the footprint of the old theatres, and will include a multi-deck car park with the capability for more than 350 staff and consumers to use. To complement surgery, Nexus will also provide a 20-chair renal dialysis unit, a GP clinic and other allied health services from the facility. The Marshall Liberal government—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. I.K. Hunter interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order, the Hon. Mr Hunter! I am tempted to say you should replace your mask.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: The Marshall Liberal government is continuing to invest in the future of our health system—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order on both sides! I am trying to listen to the minister. Minister, proceed.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Thank you, Mr President.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I am just slightly amused. What the Hon. Ms Girolamo will find is there is an inverse relationship between the Labor Party's embarrassment and their noise.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. S.G. WADE: And here we go again. Mention the Repat—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —and it just brings on an epileptic response, particularly from the Hon. Ian Hunter.

The Hon. I.K. Hunter interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order, the Hon. Mr Hunter!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: He loves the Repat and he is embarrassed to hell about it.

The Hon. I.K. Hunter interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Hunter!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: The Hon. Mr Hunter might be delighted to hear that we are investing, in partnership with the federal government, $115 million to revitalise the Repat. Nexus and HammondCare are investing further millions and millions of dollars so that the total investment, public and private, on that sale—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order, the Hon. Mr Hunter!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —is more than $200 million.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Hunter will come to order.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: The embarrassment of the Hon. Mr Hunter will continue as I tell him about the fact that this initiative is in direct contrast to Labor's plans to privatise the site. They had a contract on the sale to ACH. That sounds to me like privatisation.

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