HEALTH DEPARTMENT BUDGET

The Hon. I.F. EVANS (Davenport) (14:47): My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Has the government recently appointed Deloittes and KPMG to work on SA Health's northern and southern region accounts? If so, for what purpose and at what expected cost to the taxpayer?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts) (14:47): I thank the member for Davenport for the question. We have employed a couple of consultancies to give us advice in relation to the cost overruns in the health budget. We are getting advice from Deloittes, I think, in relation to one or two of the areas and from another consultancy—I cannot recall off the top of my head which one it is—in relation to some of the other health areas.

I will get some advice for the member as to the estimated cost, but it is essentially to look for areas where we can make savings. In the health portfolio, there is an overrun which was mentioned yesterday of $125 million and I have to say that, under our government and previous governments, there has been a general overrun in health budgets. It is partly, as I explained yesterday, because of growth in demand which is often unexpected, but it is also about the nature of the business.

What we are wanting to look at very deeply is which bits of the business of health should be targeted for savings. As I think I explained yesterday to the member for Waite in relation to the Auditor-General's Report, what we will be doing is benchmarking the various activities to see which parts of the health system are more expensive than other parts when there is no apparent reason for that difference in cost.