Premier Peter Malinauskas decries minority opinion infecting major development judgments

Premier Peter Malinauskas has spoken out about “minority opinion” infecting political judgments about projects in the state’s long-term interests.

Minority opinion has infected political judgments on projects in the state’s interest, Premier Peter Malinauskas says, decrying the drowning-out of the silent majority.

In an interview with the Sunday Mail, Mr Malinauskas repudiated opponents of the $3bn new Women’s and Children’s Hospital and delivered a veiled barb at the past scuttling of a planned permanent Victoria Park grandstand for the Adelaide 500 Supercars event.

Asked whether opposition to the WCH site at Thebarton Police Barracks and the Adelaide Crows’ proposed Thebarton Oval headquarters indicated an anti-development mentality, the Premier said: “I think that sometimes there have been occasions in the past where voices of a minority opinion have been given a disproportionate amount of airtime in a way that drowns out majority opinion.

“And part of the function of leadership is to actually work out what you genuinely believe is in the best interest of the state in the long term, and make a decision and run with it.

“That’s not to diminish the minority voice and to exclude them from the process. But ultimately, if you’re thinking about progress and the future of our state, you’ve got to be willing to make decisions that are consistent with not just the majority view, but what is in the state’s interest.

“ … I think there have been instances in the past where minority opinion has infected the political considerations of judgments that would have been in the state’s long-term interests.”

Premier Peter Malinauskas at a September 27 press conference to announce plans for the Women's and Children's Hospital site. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Emma Brasier

Mr Malinauskas said this had been at a state and local government level. Asked if this included the Victoria Park grandstand plan rejected in 2008 by Adelaide City Council, he said only: “I’ll let the commentators commentate.”

The VALO Adelaide 500’s December return – it was scrapped by the former Liberal government – is a centrepiece of Mr Malinauskas’s agenda.

Mr Malinauskas argued a silent majority was in favour of the new WCH site, despite opposition from heritage and parklands campaigners.

“My judgment is that majority of South Australians want to see this hospital built in a way that sustains the long term,” he said.

“While there are people who are concerned about the heritage, my assessment is the majority of people would rather see the government make a decision that doesn’t constrain the RAH and the women’s and kids, forever more, from future expansion.”

Mr Malinauskas, who left on Saturday for his first overseas trip as Premier, stressed he was not commenting on local government issues relating to the Crows’ $80m plans for redeveloping Thebarton Oval.

“From the moment that the Crows informed us that Thebarton had become their preferred site, we said that we’re willing to engage with them in a productive way on the matter, but they need to engage with the council,” he said.