ENTERPRISE PATIENT ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (14:21): Yes, sir. Can I just clarify that? When you say it is on budget, you are saying that it is under the original total budget, but what is what they refer to in the industry as the 'earned value' of the project to date, which is the expenditure relative to the position on the project schedule, and what is the blowout in earned value to date?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (14:22): Well, there is no blowout, and it is incorrect to suggest there is.

Mr Marshall: Get a briefing.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: Perhaps the Leader of the Opposition should get a briefing. Whenever the Leader of the Opposition is looking a bit foolish in the house because he doesn't know what he is talking about, he interjects, 'Get a briefing, get a briefing, get a briefing.' Like the trained galah in the pet shop, all he can say is, 'Get a briefing.' What a dill!

The SPEAKER: The member for Heysen.

Mrs REDMOND: I was about to comment that the minister surely was debating in the way he referred to the feelings and state of the Leader of the Opposition.

The SPEAKER: I agree with the member for Heysen. Accordingly, the Minister for Health is warned for the first time and he will withdraw the reference to the Leader of the Opposition as being like a cockatoo.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: A galah, sir.

The SPEAKER: A galah—sorry.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: Happy to withdraw, if the Leader of the Opposition is offended. However, with regard to the EPAS project—

The SPEAKER: No, the minister will withdraw unconditionally. It is an unparliamentary expression, and there is a long tradition of 'galah' being an unparliamentary expression. He should know, as a former Speaker.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: I am justly rebuked, Mr Speaker, justly rebuked. With regard to the EPAS project, the EPAS project is expected to be completed on budget. Of course, in any project, there will be times when you are spending more and spending less money. In the early stages of the project, you will spend more money because you have to train more people. As EPAS is progressively rolled out, you will find people who are working across multiple hospital sites, for example, who will not need to be retrained.

The simple fact is that, as the project goes on and a certain number of people have been trained and certain things have already happened, the rate of spend over the life of the project reduces. Of course, in the early stages of the project—which I think is what the Leader of the Opposition is getting at or attempting to get at or someone has told him—you are going to be spending more money than you are in the later stages of the project. There is nothing unusual in that, but the simple fact is that EPAS is expected to be rolled out with the current budget allocation that it has been given. I have been provided with no advice contrary to that.