HEALTH DEPARTMENT BUDGET

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (15:27): My question is again to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Can the minister confirm that the 349 job cuts in his department he announced yesterday are in addition to a further target of about 850 job cuts across the health system just to meet the savings required in the current budget?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts) (15:27): Can I believe my ears? The Leader of the Opposition is asking me about Public Service job cuts. This is the person who wants to cut by 25,000 to 35,000 jobs in South Australia.

Mr MARSHALL: Point of order, Madam Speaker.

The SPEAKER: Sit down. There is no point of order. The minister has just started his answer.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: I have, Madam Speaker. The point I was making is that the hypocrisy on the other side is outrageous.

Mr MARSHALL: Point of order, Madam Speaker. He has defied your ruling and begun his answer again with debate. Standing order 98.

The SPEAKER: Thank you. Sit down. Minister, I am waiting to hear your answer.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Thank you for that reminder of standing order 98. The difference between the other side and our side is we are being honest about what we are doing. We have told the public what we are doing. We have a targeted process in place to improve the productivity of our system.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: The other side want to—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: —under the banner that was created by the member for Waite, create an audit commission so that after the election they can cut 30,000 jobs.

Mr MARSHALL: Point of order, Madam Speaker: standing order 98, substance of the question and debate.

The SPEAKER: Thank you. Sit down.