House of Assembly Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2) 51 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Question Time Country Health Care Plan COUNTRY HEALTH CARE PLAN Mr HAMILTON-SMITH House of Assembly Waite Leader of the Opposition COUNTRY HEALTH CARE PLAN Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (14:04): Will the Premier guarantee that no-one will die in the country or the city, who might otherwise have lived, as a consequence of his planned closure of 43 South Australian country hospitals and the resignations— An honourable member interjecting: Mr HAMILTON-SMITH House of Assembly Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: No, I am not. It is about people's lives. It is about their safety and their life. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! Members will not interject and the leader will not respond to interjections. Mr HAMILTON-SMITH House of Assembly Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: I repeat the question. Will the Premier personally guarantee that no-one will die in the country or city, who might otherwise have lived, as a consequence of his planned closure of 43 South Australian country hospitals and the resignation of dozens of doctors from our metropolitan hospitals? The Hon. M.D. RANN House of Assembly Ramsay Premier Minister for Economic Development Minister for Social Inclusion Minister for the Arts Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:05): The Leader of the Opposition— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. M.D. RANN House of Assembly The Hon. M.D. RANN: —to the excitement of the masses, has just given his budget reply. Yesterday, apparently when he saw five or six— Ms CHAPMAN House of Assembly Ms CHAPMAN: Mr Speaker— The Hon. M.D. RANN House of Assembly The Hon. M.D. RANN: No. I will answer it the way I want to answer it. Ms CHAPMAN House of Assembly Ms CHAPMAN: I rise on a point of order. This is nothing about the budget reply speech: it is clearly about country hospital closures. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! Yes, the Premier needs to speak to the substance of the question. The Hon. M.D. RANN House of Assembly The Hon. M.D. RANN: He had to call a quorum to get his own members in the chamber to listen to him. Ms CHAPMAN House of Assembly Ms CHAPMAN: A point of order, Mr Speaker. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! There is a point of order. Ms CHAPMAN House of Assembly Ms CHAPMAN: Mr Speaker, the Premier is clearly disobeying your ruling. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier will answer the substance of the question. The Hon. M.D. RANN House of Assembly The Hon. M.D. RANN: Okay, the substance of the question is this: there are 699 more doctors now than there were when you were in cabinet—699 more doctors. Under the Liberals, there was cut after cut— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. M.D. RANN House of Assembly The Hon. M.D. RANN: —to our hospitals and our health system. All you did was cut hospitals and health, and what we have done is put an extra 699 doctors into the system—699 more than when you were in government—and 2,500 extra nurses. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Members on my left will come to order! The Hon. M.D. RANN House of Assembly The Hon. M.D. RANN: Billions of dollars more are being invested in our health system compared to when the Liberals were around. There is no-one more phoney than the Leader of the Opposition when it comes to public health and public hospitals. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for Norwood. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Norwood.