There is something rotten when two State Labor Governments seem intent on destroying State run enterprises that were funded by the taxpayers of the State.
Increasing the cost of royalties by five times the previous amount in Gippsland forced the early closure of Hazelwood Power station.
In South Australia, the Royal Adelaide Hospital is now the world's most expensive building per floor.
The only building that cost more per floor was Romanian President Ceausesc's Palace.Look what happened to him.
R.A.H. even had a battery storage unit.(This was installed as Adelaide has a third world power supply.)
These giant batteries ruptured and started leaking Sulfuric acid in January this year.
In South Australia the Weather-Dill Government has finally been destroyed.Now will the Victorian people who have suffered under the
Andrews reckless government send him the way of Weather-Dill.

Brock,

Yes. The new RAH is a shocking stuff up - luxury single rooms for people who won't pay private health insurance, no room for storage etc. etc., and you can't get a drink of chilled water there.

But, you have also mentioned electricity, and the fault for that lies fairly and squarely and the feet of the John Olsen LIBERAL government. True, in 16 years Labor did nothing to buy the power back. We will have to wait and see if the new Liberal government will do something about it. Somehow, I don't think they will. These days, a politician is a politician, no matter what brand he calls himself.

BROCK,
Technically you're wrong, as Apple's new HQ cost far more per floor.
However, moving the RAH was indeed a shocking waste money. And it's because the Rann government started listening to incompetent British consultants (namely Durrow Health Services Management) instead of the South Australian people.

The root of the problem lies in 1997, in the leadup to the British General Election. In a misguided attempt to appear fiscally responsible, Labour pledged to stick to the same spending targets as the incumbent Tories. After winning the election by a landslide, they stuck to that promise, which meant they could not afford to invest in upgrading hospitals. However they did allow PPPs to upgrade hospitals (and replace hospitals, which the private sector preferred because it was more lucrative) as long as it could be demonstrated that the PPPs were better value for money than the conventional financing that the government had already ruled out.

The result of all this was: everyone became good at fudging value for money tests to give the false conclusion that the PPP was better value for money. Durrow (AND ALL THEIR COMPETITORS) gained great skill in making PPP deals look good for governments, but no ability to determine if they actually were!

What's really needed is a proper procedure to crowdsource scrutiny of all state government spending proposals and identify better options.

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ttbn,

Single rooms is a much better arrangement - not only does it reduce the chance of cross contamination, but it allows patients to get more rest instead of constantly being disturbed by each other.

Though the RAH should not have been moved, the decision to have single rooms was the right one. They should not be regarded as a luxury for those with deeper pockets!

Aidan,

Actually, people who pay their health insurance expect a single room, but they don't always get it. I see no reason why people who PAY NOTHNG in a public hospital should be getting a room to themselves at the expense of other people, who are paying their taxes AS WELL AS their private health insurance. You seem to favour the vouchers in society.

I wuz out walking the dog at the time....it wuz them over there that did it!
What an effing joke...incompetents blaming opportunists....but then that's South Australia for you...turkeys walking around in search of a bullet

ttbn,
You seem to be saying we should deliberately build substandard facilities because those who don't have private health insurance don't deserve good healthcare!

Australia is a rich country - good healthcare should be a right for all, not just a privilege for those who pay extra. But even if that wasn't the case, the fact remains that single rooms get the best value outcome, so should be standard in all new hospitals.