SA Libs choose kids over nuclear waste

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill has been told he "wants to flee the scene of the crime" by visiting a nuclear dump in Finland next month when parliament resumes to consider an overhaul of the state's child protection system.

Opposition Leader Steven Marshall has pulled out of the bipartisan trip so he can be in parliament to respond to the damning findings of a royal commission into child protection, released last week.

The trip comes as the state government consults with South Australians about whether SA should have a nuclear waste storage facility of its own.

The premier says Mr Marshall's backflip is a "cheap political stunt" and the trip had already been postponed at the opposition leader's request.

"This is a pathetic stunt by Mr Marshall who agreed to travel with the knowledge that parliament would be sitting at that time," Mr Weatherill said in a statement.

"Travelling during the week of parliament was not the preferred option, however Mr Marshall declined the offer to travel on a number of alternate dates provided to him to meet his personal convenience.

"The Minister for Child Protection Reform will be delivering a comprehensive legislative package when parliament resumes."

Mr Marshall said the report from the royal commission, led by former Supreme Court Justice Margaret Nyland, was much worse than he'd expected it to be.

"This report is far more extensive and damning than anyone considered that it would be when the trip was planned and I think there's no alternative," he told ABC radio on Thursday.

"This report calls for 70 procedural changes within the department, it calls for 40 different reviews and there are 30 separate areas that we need to make legislative changes and I don't think we can delay implementation of this report for one single day.

"I'm putting the children of South Australia first."