'Very troubled project': Hospital cost blowout concerns treasurer

Tom Koutsantonis says there are contingencies in place for all new government builds. (ABC News: Trent Murphy)

The SA treasurer says he is "very worried" about escalating costs for the new Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide, but will not reveal an updated price tag for the project.

The state government handed down the 2026–27 budget on Thursday, which revealed net debt is expected to blow out to more than $50 billion in 2029–30.

The treasurer says state net debt will reduce once the Women's and Children's Hospital and Torrens to Darlington projects are complete.

South Australia's treasurer says he's "very worried" about blowouts to the budget of the new Women's and Children's Hospital — one of two projects that have pushed state debt projections past $53 billion.

The $3.2 billion price of the hospital was last updated in 2022, before inflation and pressures on the construction industry led to significant cost escalations.

Some things haven't changed since Labor Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis last handed down a state budget in 2017.

Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis delivered the first budget of the Labor government's second term on Thursday, which focused largely on fulfilling election commitments.

It forecast non-financial public sector net debt to rise from $34.7 billion this year to $53.7 billion in 2029–30 on the back of an infrastructure spend, including the new hospital and $15.4 billion Torrens to Darlington project.

It did not include any revision to the hospital's costings, despite admissions from the government that the project was facing difficulties.

In an interview with ABC News Stateline on Friday, Mr Koutsantonis said the Torrens to Darlington would be delivered on time and on budget — but conceded he was "less confident" about the hospital.

Hinting at a potential blowout, he described it as "a very troubled project".

"Hospitals are complex. They are bespoke, they're not off-the-shelf, and they have a level of acuity and complexity that is not something that ordinary builds have," he said.

"I am very worried about escalation costs, and I'm very worried about cost growth, but my job is to try and fix it, and my job is to try and get value for the taxpayer."

The concept design for the Women's and Children's Hospital at the Thebarton Barracks site. (Supplied: SA government)

Mr Koutsantonis denied that it was disingenuous to include the $3.2 billion costing in the budget, given the possibility of an increase.

"You don't know what our contingencies are, and I don't publish our contingencies," he said.

"But I do have contingency p