Radio interview with Minister Butler, 5AA Breakfast – 17 November 2025

DAVID PENBERTHY, HOST: So in just over an hour from now, the Premier and the Federal Health Minister, Mark Butler, will be standing up together outside Bedford Industries there on Goodwood Road in Panorama. We have both men on the line now for this Breaking @ 8. We'll start with the Premier.
 
Mr Malinauskas, thanks for joining us. Does it sound like the end is nigh for Bedford?
 
PETER MALINAUSKAS, PREMIER OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA: I'm very pleased to report this morning, Will and Penbo, that we have reached an agreement that will see the saving…
 
PENBERTHY: Really?
 
MALINAUSKAS: … the retainment, of every single employee at Bedford. This morning, Minister Butler and I will stand up and announce who the new purchaser of Bedford will be. And this is following a suite of negotiations that have happened throughout the course of the last few weeks that culminated across the weekend.
 
I should take this opportunity - I know we like to bash the banks every now and then -  but I want to give a particular shout-out to Andrew Irvine, the CEO of the National Australia Bank and his team, who worked really collaboratively with us to be able to reach this agreement. It’s an outstanding outcome. We all know what Bedford means to so many families across the state.
 
PENBERTHY:  72 hours ago, it looked like it was gone, didn't it?
 
MALINAUSKAS:  We've been worried for some time. No, we were always hopeful that we would achieve the sale, but there was a lot that needed to go right. Between Minister Butler's office, my office and the NAB, there's been a huge amount of work put into this and we're very pleased to be able to make this announcement this morning. There's a lot of detail that we'll go through in our press conference this morning, but the top line is we think we have reached the terms, or we have reached the terms, that we'll see to the successful sale of all things Bedford.
 
WILL GOODINGS, HOST: Which is fantastic news, the headline, we would have taken that at about 8 o'clock on Friday morning, I can tell you.
 
MALINAUSKAS:  I would have as well.
 
GOODINGS: With regard to the detail then, between then and now, did the pot have to be sweetened at all by the taxpayer or is the taxpayer committed to remediating the site in some way or investing in other ways to facilitate the sale?
 
MALINAUSKAS: I'll talk to the State Government's perspective and I understand Minister Butler will be able to inform you of the Federal. Remember going back a while when we first gave Bedford a lifeline from the State Government, it was to the tune of $15 million, with the State acquiring the Balyana site off Bedford. That provided them cash to keep things going. What we've done this time around is a similar arrangement.
 
Bedford currently operate on the Panorama site. That'll be familiar to a lot of people listening to your program. Sixty per cent of it is owned by the State, 40 per cent of it is owned by Bedford. The State Government land there, which is worth around about $6 million, we will transfer to the new owner of Bedford for nil consideration, subject to some caveats that they have to keep doing the type of work that they do on that site. That was a critical piece of the puzzle, along with the Federal Government support, to be able to get the bank over the line, which in turn got the new purchaser over the line. So yes, the short answer is we've had to put a bit more on the table, but handing over that land was something I was very happy to do in order to achieve the outcome that everyone knows just has to happen.
 
PENBERTHY: From the Federal perspective, Mark Butler, as Health Minister, what’s the Federal role been in this over the last few days?
 
MARK BUTLER, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING, MINISTER FOR DISABILITY AND THE NDIS: For some months, David, we've been working very closely with the Premier, his officials, and at the Federal level as well, to find a way forward for this organisation. The thing to remember here is how unique Bedford is. It's not just another disability organisation. It really is the 10,000-pound gorilla in Adelaide, particularly for supported employment. It's the second biggest provider of supported employment services in the entire country.
 
We were both worried, the Premier and I, that if we went through a bog-standard administration process, there would be no provider of services in Adelaide able to take it up. It just simply was too big, so we had to buy time. We had to get in some expert resources, and credit to the Premier for the way in which he organised that with McGrathNicol, but also putting Bruce Carter onto the Board. We had a very expert, objective set of eyes on this process and then worked slowly, carefully, but firmly through a process to find a new purchaser. And we've done that.
 
I just want to pay full credit to the Premier. It's not just officials working hard. We're putting more than $13 million additional money on the table today to allow the sales process to work through. But the Premier's personal authority, his efforts, his ability to engage with the bank, with the NAB, has been essential.
 
You were right to say there was every possibility, every chance that this thing would fall over and literally hundreds and hundreds of South Australians with a disability would be left without a job. That’s the position we were facing several months ago. Bedford was right at the edge of a cliff. They had no cash in hand, which is why both the South Australian Government and the Commonwealth had to inject urgent funds into the show just to keep it going while we worked through the details of the financial hole they'd got themselves into, and testing the market to find someone who wanted to take on what otherwise is a terrific opportunity here in Adelaide.
 
I'm incredibly delighted as the Federal Minister for Disability, but also as South Australian, that  we're in a position now where we can see the Bedford brand continue for decades to come.
 
PENBERTHY:  Yeah, we've got a lot of listeners who work there and a lot of listeners who are parents of people who work there and we know how much it means to them because when the story broke earlier this year that it was under a financial cloud, people were extremely distressed, understandably, and great that we're able to bring them some good news this morning.
 
Mark Butler and Peter Malinauskas, thank you for joining us for Breaking @ 8.