{"id":26271,"date":"2025-06-25T11:56:38","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T11:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.joshteague.com.au\/?p=26271"},"modified":"2026-01-27T13:38:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T13:38:56","slug":"land-ahoy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joshteague.com.au\/index.php\/2025\/06\/25\/land-ahoy\/","title":{"rendered":"Land ahoy!"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Land ahoy!<\/span> <\/h1> <\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/section>\r\n\t\t\t\t
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The State Government has made a startling admission in Parliament this week, that it appears to have neglected to account for the need to purchase land on which to build a new Forensic Science Centre.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Giving evidence to Budget Estimates this week, Attorney General Kyam Maher, was asked about a $13.2 million blow out in the cost of the new SA Forensic Centre, bringing the total cost to more than $362 million.\u00a0<\/p>

Mr Maher responded that the additional cost was to purchase the land, making the obvious point that \u201cit would of course be very hard to complete a building project like this without any land.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

Shadow Attorney General, Josh Teague, said the incompetence to not think that you would need to budget for land to build a new facility is astounding.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cQuite frankly, I would have thought it to have been self-explanatory that the budget for any new building should always include a budget for the purchase of land,\u201d Mr Teague said.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cThe fact that this Government had failed to do so in three previous budgets is either gross incompetence, mismanagement, or both!\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cNot only has the cost now blown-out by millions, but the project has also been delayed by three years, now due for completion in 2031.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cIt goes to show that this Government\u2019s legacy will be a trail of broken promises, record debt and lagging projects.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

In his evidence, the Attorney-General blamed the three year delay on having decided lately to coincide the relocation of 320 staff and complex machinery with the end of the lease of the current facility.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cTo our knowledge, the term of the lease has at all times been known, so citing it now as grounds for this delay is a bit rich,\u201d Mr Teague said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

The simple fact is that this is a three year delay and a significant cost blow out absent any remotely plausible reason. It\u2019s not good enough.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Further increasing the need for a new facility are delays in forensic testing, with the budget revealing less than half of all major indictable DNA cases are completed within seven months.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Just 45 per cent were cleared in this time frame in 2024\/25, compared to 62 per cent the previous year and well below the target of 75 per cent.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

There were also delays to drug testing, with just 20 per cent of illicit drug cases preliminary results issued within two months, when the target is 90 per cent.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cSome of the State\u2019s most brilliant minds work within Forensics SA, helping solve crimes and bring about justice.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cThey deserve the very best facilities but are now facing another three years working in a current facility which is in urgent need of replacement.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cWhen every one of these tests contributes to our justice system, it becomes vital to ensure that our forensics staff have up-to-date facilities and the resources to match.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/section>\r\n\t\t\t\t

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The State Government has made a startling admission in Parliament this week, that it appears to have neglected to account for the need to purchase land on which to build a new Forensic Science Centre.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Giving evidence to Budget Estimates this week, Attorney General Kyam Maher, was asked about a $13.2 million blow out in the cost of the new SA Forensic Centre, bringing the total cost to more than $362 million.\u00a0<\/p>

Mr Maher responded that the additional cost was to purchase the land, making the obvious point that \u201cit would of course be very hard to complete a building project like this without any land.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

Shadow Attorney General, Josh Teague, said the incompetence to not think that you would need to budget for land to build a new facility is astounding.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cQuite frankly, I would have thought it to have been self-explanatory that the budget for any new building should always include a budget for the purchase of land,\u201d Mr Teague said.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cThe fact that this Government had failed to do so in three previous budgets is either gross incompetence, mismanagement, or both!\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cNot only has the cost now blown-out by millions, but the project has also been delayed by three years, now due for completion in 2031.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cIt goes to show that this Government\u2019s legacy will be a trail of broken promises, record debt and lagging projects.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

In his evidence, the Attorney-General blamed the three year delay on having decided lately to coincide the relocation of 320 staff and complex machinery with the end of the lease of the current facility.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cTo our knowledge, the term of the lease has at all times been known, so citing it now as grounds for this delay is a bit rich,\u201d Mr Teague said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

The simple fact is that this is a three year delay and a significant cost blow out absent any remotely plausible reason. It\u2019s not good enough.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Further increasing the need for a new facility are delays in forensic testing, with the budget revealing less than half of all major indictable DNA cases are completed within seven months.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Just 45 per cent were cleared in this time frame in 2024\/25, compared to 62 per cent the previous year and well below the target of 75 per cent.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

There were also delays to drug testing, with just 20 per cent of illicit drug cases preliminary results issued within two months, when the target is 90 per cent.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cSome of the State\u2019s most brilliant minds work within Forensics SA, helping solve crimes and bring about justice.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cThey deserve the very best facilities but are now facing another three years working in a current facility which is in urgent need of replacement.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cWhen every one of these tests contributes to our justice system, it becomes vital to ensure that our forensics staff have up-to-date facilities and the resources to match.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/section>\r\n\t\t\t\t

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It goes to show that this Government\u2019s legacy will be a trail of broken promises, record debt and lagging projects.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/section>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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