It is the first official acknowledgement of its likely cost and scale. Yesterday, in Dunedin, Mr English said the project was bigger than officials anticipated once they started looking closely at it.
"As they’ve dug into, had a thorough look at the facilities, it now appears there’s more work required than was originally expected."
In June, the Otago Daily Times reported the provisional budget could be about $1billion, far higher than the official estimate of $300million.
Mr English said he would not be surprised if the rebuild cost between $700million and $1billion.
An announcement is expected soon on which option officials would pursue; Mr English refused to say when, saying it would happen in "due course". The ODT has also reported the worst-case timeframe scenario in a yet-to-be-released Cabinet document has the rebuild completed in 2031.
Mr English did not respond directly when asked about the 2031 date, but said it would "take a while", and cited the eight to 10-year timeframe.
Asked about the rundown state of the hospital, described as "crumbling" in an official report, Mr English said difficult decisions had to be made.
"Yes, that’s why I’ve mentioned the issue that there’s a trade-off here about how much you invest in the short term because of the pressure of facilities not being the best.
"So there’ll be some investment made knowing that it’s not going to be permanent because there’s the larger project of the rebuild coming."
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"Due course" is of course some weeks after the election. Only then will this mob tell the people of Dunedin which services will be delivered outside Dunedin.
Typical two faced puffery from this mob. I really think there should be a couple of days a year when all politicians simply have to tell the truth. Wouldn't it be refreshing!