The South Australian opposition has topped off the first week of its election campaign with yet another health promise – announcing $120 million for a new ambulance service headquarters.
Key points:
- Labor has promised a $120 million new headquarters for the SA Ambulance Service
- The Premier says the opposition is “throwing money around like confetti”
- The Liberals have promised funding for the Adelaide Zoo and for recreation at reservoirs
The SA Ambulance Service’s city hub would include a brand new emergency operations centre, ambulance station and health control centre to replace ageing headquarters just outside the Adelaide CBD.
Labor leader Peter Malinauskas said the control centre was key to combating ramping, by coordinating the movement of patients across all hospitals and bringing together ambulance and hospital staff to better coordinate resources.
Labor is pledging to set up a taskforce within 100 days of taking office, if elected, to start planning for the new headquarters.
Opposition health spokesman Chris Picton said Labor was prepared to spend big.
The running total of health expenditure promised by Labor has now exceeded $870 million – significantly more than the government’s proposed Riverbank Arena.
Labor will have to bring forward significant debt to fund its promises, since most of that money is not in the current budget.
Premier Steven Marshall said Labor was “throwing money around like confetti”.
“The problem with that is someone has to pay for it, which is the taxpayer. Taxpayers don’t want higher taxes or levies,” he said.
“What we have is a comprehensive plan to end ramping in South Australia, with more than $3 billion of projects already underway in the health sector.
“Our goal is to completely and utterly eliminate ramping from South Australia; a new ambulance HQ won’t achieve that.”
Liberals focus on tourism, economy
The Premier has been keen to keep the focus firmly on the Liberal Party’s economic record, with the first week of his campaign centred around tourism initiatives.
The latest promises include upgrades to reservoirs the Liberal Party opened to the public in its first term.
“Today we announce $12 million to further improve our reservoirs at Myponga, Happy Valley, Hope Valley, Beetaloo and also Mount Bold,” Mr Marshall said.
Environment Minister David Speirs said the money would be used to enhance amenities and capacity of the reservoirs, which had been “victims of their own popularity”.
“We’re going to… provide access to Happy Valley Drive for car parking, toilets, more walking trails, kayak launch sites, boardwalks,” he said.
“At Myponga Reservoir, we’re going to spend $3 million opening a conservation zone to build an elevated boardwalk over the wetlands, and we’re also going to look at painting a mural over the dam walls there.”
The Premier also promised a $7.5 million transformation of Adelaide Zoo to develop an “African oasis” on the banks of the River Torrens – adding to yesterday’s $27.5 million pledge to turn the River Torrens into a “nature boulevard’.
The redevelopment would see the back of Adelaide Zoo opened up – to give people walking along the River Torrens a view of the resident giraffe, Kimya.
“This transformation project is the final piece in the puzzle to rejuvenate the River Torrens – making it a safe, healthy, walkable boulevard from the hills to the ocean,” Mr Marshall said.
The project also features a commitment to create more green space and tree canopy on the riverbank.
