Health take precedence over SA venue project

Article posted by Coliseum, April 7^th, 2022

Image: AAP

South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas scrapped a $622M ‘basketball stadium’ project to save the State’s failing healthcare system. The newly elected Premier has wasted no time in shaking things up.

Scrapping stadium development plans on South Australia’s Torrens River just one week after being sworn in as the State’s Premier, Malinauskas has wasted no time implementing pre-election promises.

Peter Bryden Malinauskas is an Australian politician, who is currently the 47^th Premier of South Australia since March 21^st, 2022.

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The ‘7NEWS.com.au’ stated that choosing to direct funds from the $622 million stadium towards the State’s failing healthcare system, Malinauskas said the Riverbank Area is “not the right priority”.

Malinauskas told ministers during his first Cabinet meeting recently, “Our job is to honor the commitments we’ve made. We don’t have time to tread water. Four years will go quickly.”

The ‘7NEWS.com.au’ further stated that the decision to scrap the development will immediately free up more than $78 million, which will be redirected towards the State’s healthcare system.

The Premier says the reallocation of funds will “get on with the job of expending that money to improve on the capacity within the health system”.

Details on the where the remaining $584million dollars will go will be announced in the upcoming June budget.

Around 200 beds are needed immediately to cope with an expected increase in COVID hospitalizations following major changes to South Australian COVID restrictions announced recently.

The Premier previously stated that South Australia’s ambulance ramping was “worse than ever before” and that the State’s emergency departments were the “worst performing in the country”.

All adult emergency departments in Adelaide were recently reported to all be exceeding their capacity, with SA Health advising public of long delays.

Adelaide Emergency Departments tweeted reports of 40 people in emergency departments currently waiting for mental health inpatient beds. Of that number, 26 had been waiting for more than eight hours.

Malinauskas wrote in June last year, prior to his election, “I am choosing to scrap the basketball stadium and invest in our health system.”

Plans for the indoor sports and entertainment stadium in Central Adelaide (South Australia) were unveiled by the former SA Premier, Steven Marshall, 12 months ago.

Marshall said at the time, “It’s a project we feel strongly about. This is a project which will transform our Central Business District.”

The complex was proposed to sit beside the Adelaide Convention Centre and replace the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

It intended to boost the seating capacity for indoor sports, concerts and other events from about 8,000 at present to 15,000.

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