Health Budget

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (15:01): My question is to the Minister for Health. Was the Minister for Health correct when he said on 15 May that the impact on the state health budget as a result of federal health budget cuts was $269 million, or was the Treasurer correct when he said on 27 May that the impact would be $217 million?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (15:01): It is $655 million over the next four years. I think the member for Morphett might be referring to the year 2017-18, and I would have to check and see the context of the quotes, but it is in the order of, I think in that particular year, well over $200 million in 2017-18. The government has made clear that it is the equivalent of closing every single bed at the Flinders Medical Centre—that cut in federal funding just in that single year.