COMMUNITY HOSPITAL FUNDING

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (15:09): Thank you, Madam Speaker. My question is to the Minister for Health. Why did the government not tell community hospitals prior to the March 2010 election that their funding would be cut, threatening their existence?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (15:09): I thank the member for his question. It is the same question, I guess, that has been asked of other members about why things were not given before they were decided. Well, they were not given that information until it was decided and, when it was decided, which was part of the budget—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the Member for Norwood!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: We have a budget process every year, and every year we make decisions. Some are applauded by the community and some attacked by the community, but they do not come out prior to the budget because that is the process we go through, which is called the budget process. There are a lot of things in the budget, too, that parts of the rural community are very happy about but they were not necessarily given all that information prior to the budget coming out, either. So, that it is just the way it is.

As it happens, of course, I did speak to one of the rural hospitals that came to me arguing that they should get even more money to prop up their hospital, and I told them times were tough and I suggested they might contemplate creating a service that concentrated on the emergency department as well as nursing home beds, but they said they were not interested in doing that. However, I raised that when I spoke to them.