ST JOHN AMBULANCE

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (15:26): Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending the St John Ambulance Australia Incorporated Awards Day at Government House, and it was quite an interesting ceremony to go to because obviously the cuts to their funding were on the minds of everybody at that award ceremony, and there were several hundred people there.

I just want to put in perspective what St John does for South Australia, and I will lead off with some of the awards that were given on the day: the Certificate to the Service Medal of the Order was awarded to David Heard for 62 years of efficient service. There was a 4^th Gilt Bar to the Service for 47 years of service to Brian Fotheringham and Patricia Kakoschke. There was an award for 42 years of efficient service to John Burnley, Geoff Ireland and Bronte Rayson.

There were other awards to people in the public sphere whom we know better: the Mayor of Playford, Glenn Docherty, who was awarded 12 years of efficient service, and Dr Bill Griggs, whom we know through his work with the Motor Accident Commission and the trauma service at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and who has given 27 years of efficient service to St John. Some of the cadets who were mentioned on the day were Cadet of the Year, Danika Crolla, and Cadet Leader of the Year, Emma Adams. Awards were given for many types of service involving quite a number of people, and hundreds of members of St John were there to witness this auspicious ceremony.

We should all in this place value St John and never underestimate their contribution to South Australia over many years, when they ran the ambulance service, and now with their volunteer base and their economic impact, which I said the other day in question time was about $7 million. That is the figure that had been put up on Saturday, but I have since found out that the economic contribution to South Australia by St John Ambulance Incorporated is $23.8 million. It costs a bit under $1 million for them to run the service each year; they were getting $200,000 from the state government, and that was being cut to about $60,000. Some extra money was going to be put in to St John through other providers which would top it up a little, but it was still being cut by about $100,000.

The government has since advised that they are going to review that decision. Why you would even make that decision in the first place is something I just cannot understand. Why would you announce and then have to defend? Why would you not consult and discuss and then be open and honest with people about the situation and then say, 'Well this is what we can do for you, we recognise how much you are doing for us and so we are prepared to keep funding you.' We had a policy at the last election, called Helping Those That Help Us,and there are many organisations like St John. When a cost-benefit analysis was done, it was an absolute no-brainer not only to maintain their funding but also to increase their funding.

One of the issues raised with St John by the Minister for Health was that they could work directly with other services being provided by the government. The formal arrangements St John would have to enter into would be very complex, very time consuming and cost the service in money and, as I say, time.

There is a St John presence at major events all around South Australia that should never be overlooked. Schoolies is one of the obvious ones. For Schoolies last year, St John was given a grant of $15,000; St John then put in an extra $16,000 on top of that. They treated over 500 patients and transported 35 patients to the local hospitals at no extra cost to the health department. If the Department for Health and Ageing were required to provide the personnel, infrastructure, ambulance crews, overtime, emergency ambulances (which depletes services elsewhere), the cost would have been in excess of $200,000 for the single event. St John did it and they did it well.

They are doing this all over South Australia, they are doing it every day, they are doing it for all South Australians. They do not ask very much at all. The economic impact is significant, as shown in the economic impact report—$23.8 million contributing to the economy of South Australia for a cost of just under $1 million. And what does this government give them? $200,000, and they were going to cut it. That has to be one of the dumbest decisions that was ever made by this government. I am glad the minister is looking at it and, if he does not do something about giving them increased funding, I will be very surprised because the facts are on the table. It is out there for everybody to see and it will not be just me jumping up and down, it will be all the hundreds and thousands of South Australians who really appreciate what St John does for the state and has been doing for many years.