Labor’s WCH plans clears hurdle as Upper House passes key bill

The fate of the historic Thebarton Police Barracks has been sealed with key legislation passing SA’s upper house for the hospital project to go ahead.

Legislation to fast-track demolition of the Thebarton Police Barracks to make way for the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital has passed state parliament’s upper house.

The government secured the support of SA-Best and One Nation MLC Sarah Game to block amendments including a proposal that would have seen the Bill scrutinised by a parliamentary committee.

It will now be sent to the lower house, where the government will be able to use its majority to ensure the Bill successfully passes.

The legislation expedites planning and approvals processes to demolish heritage-listed buildings currently on the site.

SA-Best leader Frank Pangallo. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Greens MLC Tammy Franks. Picture: Mike Burton

Premier Peter Malinauskas said the new hospital “sets us up for the long-term”.

“This Bill enables us to provide more care for children, boost expansion capacity for our hospitals and increase green and open parklands space for families,” he said.

Health Minister Chris Picton said the government was thankful for the support of the Legislative Council, particularly SA-Best and Ms Game.

“We look forward to it coming to the lower house very quickly, we want to make sure that we get on with the legislation so we can get on with the hospital project,” he said.

But opposition planning spokeswoman Michelle Lensink told parliament “this has been a pretty appalling process”.

“This Bill has been rushed through the house, there’s unanswered questions I think on a range of fronts and the response from the government on all of these is ‘trust us, we’re from the government, of course we’d do the right thing’,” she said.

“I’m particularly disappointed in SA-Best, that they didn’t support our amendments, which would not have slowed down this legislation in any way, and next time they come wailing about transparency, well I’ll just claim hypocrisy.”

New artist impressions/renders of the new Women's and Children's hospital planned for Adelaide. Picture: SA Government

Greens MLC Robert Simms said it was “very disappointing to see SA-BEST side with the government … to wave this bill through without appropriate consideration by a parliamentary committee”.

“Given the significant implications of this bill for the parklands and heritage protection, parliamentary scrutiny is essential,” he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Greens MLC Tammy Franks said she expected SA-BEST would support the bill in exchange for government support of a bill introduced by Frank Pangallo that would mandate the installation of defibrillators in public buildings.

Mr Picton said the government’s position on Mr Pangallo’s bill would be subject to caucus processes, but Labor had supported the proposal while in opposition.

“It’s an important piece of legislation and we’ve been clear for a long time that we’re keen to support more defibs in South Australia and continue discussions with Frank Pangallo about making sure that we can look at that legislation and get the balance right for it,” he said.

Lyell McEwin Hospital before and after pictures, if the expansion is approved. Picture: Supplied

Labor makes bed pledge official in hospital upgrade bid

By Erin Jones

The state government has lodged a $30m plan to expand the Lyell McEwin Hospital, as part of its election promise, to create 48 new beds and tackle ramping.

The plan, lodged with the state’s planning authority, details a third level extension to an existing two-storey inpatient building at the hospital.

The $29.7m expansion would allow for 48 individual rooms, including four for bariatric patients and six “hardened rooms” for violent patients or those at risk of self-harm.

In May, the government said the extra 48 hospital beds would enable patients coming into the emergency department to be admitted and moved to beds faster.

The works were part of $58m expansion of the hospital, including increasing treatment spaces from 51 to 72 in the ED and building an 8-bed mental health short stay unit.

The money for extending the emergency department was approved by the previous Labor government in 2017.

If plans are approved, the latest works are slated to begin early next year to be completed by mid-2024.

The development application is out for consultation until November 21.

During the March state election, Labor promised to deliver more than 300 extra beds across the hospital system.

Originally published as Labor’s WCH plans clears hurdle as Upper House passes key bill