Philip Kennedy Centre

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (16:34): My question is to is the Minister for Health. Did the CEO of Southern Cross Care write to the minister on 7 April 2014 seeking an urgent meeting about the future of the Philip Kennedy Centre, and did the minister meet with the CEO?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Health Industries) (16:35): He did. I had previously met with him and, in the letter of 7 or 9 April—I can't remember exactly which date it was—he sought a meeting. The next communication I had from him was last week—last Thursday morning when he rang my office, having been in receipt of the letter for just a few weeks—to inform me that the board of Southern Cross Care had taken the decision to close the Philip Kennedy hospice at Largs Bay. I am extremely disappointed with that decision.

I had offered to continue the government funding of the Philip Kennedy hospice until at least December. My department was in discussions with Southern Cross Care about how funding to the hospice would continue and what form palliative care services to the people of the Lefevre Peninsula would take into the new year. Mr Larpent and the board of Southern Cross Care took the decision to end those discussions unilaterally and to close the hospice—a decision which I think was made in bad faith.