Mount Gambier Hospital

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop) (14:42): Supplementary: does the minister condone a practice where patients are discharged from hospital in the wee small hours of the morning, irrespective of whether or not they are elderly?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:42): I am not in the business of second-guessing our clinicians. The decision to discharge this particular patient would have been done by a doctor. I am not in the business of—

Mr van Holst Pellekaan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Stuart is warned.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: —second-guessing or critiquing decisions made by our doctors in our hospitals.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: The Leader of the Opposition just shows how completely out of depth he is. If he were health minister, he would be individually directing and second-guessing the decisions being made by our doctors day in, day out. This is what the doctors of South Australia would have to look forward to from the Leader of the Opposition.

The Leader of the Opposition would be directing our doctors about their decisions and he would be wading into the political fight and criticising doctors without any information, criticising doctors and criticising nurses about the decisions they make. I think it just goes to show how completely out of depth and how completely ill prepared the Liberal Party is for government in this state.