Ambulance Services

Mr KNOLL (Schubert) (14:54): Supplementary: given the minister's answer about there being an expansion and given that ambulance drivers and ambulance transfers are expected to increase under Transforming Health, why has the annual budget for the SA Ambulance Service's vehicle replacement program fallen to the lowest allocation in a decade?

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell interjecting:

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:54): The member for Mawson points out that paramedics don't like being called ambulance drivers, and quite rightly, because they are not just ambulance drivers. They are paramedics, which is a health profession. You are not merely a driver transferring a patient from one place—

Mr Knoll interjecting:

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: Google boy is getting a bit upset. It's good to see Google boy—

The SPEAKER: The minister will withdraw and apologise for calling the member for Schubert something other than his electorate name.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: Mr Speaker, I withdraw and apologise. With regard to the ambulance replacement—

The Hon. P. Caica interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Colton is called to order.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: With regard to ambulance replacement, the issue that we are looking at, the issue we are investigating at the moment, is whether we keep ambulances on the road longer. It is not about decreasing the size of our ambulance fleet.