Noarlunga Hospital

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:41): My question is to the Minister for Health. Can the Minister for Health confirm that the Noarlunga Hospital ED data is available on the SA Health intranet and, if so, why isn't it being publicly made available, and can the minister in fact update the house as to what the current performance is?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:42): I would have thought that having been caught out twice now peddling mistruths about the Noarlunga Hospital, the opposition would be very, very careful about bringing the Noarlunga Hospital into this place. Twice now—

Ms REDMOND: Point of order. The commencement of the minister was hardly appropriate and relevant to the question and imputed improper motive.

The SPEAKER: I will listen carefully.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: I am more than happy to talk about the dashboard because the dashboard, of course, is a wonderful Labor initiative, something that we brought in to bring transparency, whereas the last time the opposition was in government, and admittedly it was in distant memory, but the last time the opposition was in government they conducted our health system secretly. They didn't want the public to know what was really going on. Can I commend the former minister—

Mr PISONI: Point of order. The minister is not responsible for the opposition.

The SPEAKER: Yes, that's true, and also the minister has adopted an unduly combative tone which is why I am allowing members on my left to interject at will.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: Fire at will. Can I commend the previous health minister whose initiative it was to have the dashboard because he wanted to make sure that the sunlight was shone on our health system, that it could drive performance, and I am at this very moment looking at ways we can expand the amount of data that is made publicly available so the South Australian public can have a complete understanding of how our hospitals run, where blockages occur, why they occur, similar to what the NHS has done in the United Kingdom, where they have a broad range of data that's put on the internet and made publicly available—

Ms CHAPMAN: Point of order. The minister is also not responsible for the United Kingdom's health service. I would ask him to answer the question.

The SPEAKER: I don't uphold the point of order because the minister is entitled to make comparisons with health systems in other jurisdictions and may yet harbour the ambition to be a member of the House of Commons.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: The Treasurer is saying, 'Which party?' Sir, the NHS has a great thing where they have a broad range of data which gives the public a broad understanding of what is happening in the UK health system, and I see that the data we've got is just the first step to having a broad range of data. Now, Noarlunga—I will have a look at the claims made with the opposition and am more than happy to get back to the house with a report.