Eastern Eyre Health Advisory Council

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (14:40): My question is to the Premier. What is the Premier's response to the fact that the presiding member of the Eastern Eyre Health Advisory Council has resigned following his calls to the Minister for Health being ignored by your minister? With leave and that of the house, I explain.

Leave granted.

Mr PICTON: Dean Johnson, the presiding member of the Eastern Eyre Health Advisory Council, has told ABC radio today that he has resigned after his letters to the Minister for Health asking for GP services at Kimba and Cowell have gone unanswered. He said:

If this was happening on North Terrace, there'd be people up in arms and it'd be splashed across the front page of the newspaper every day. I don't think it's good enough that rural communities are without even the most basic of services, particularly when it's been a tough year for our farmers.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members of my left! It would be highly reasonable to expect a very broad answer to that very broad question. The minister has the call and he will be heard in silence or members will be departing the chamber.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:42): To be quite blunt, as the minister representing the Minister for Health, I don't know any more about that individual person's case than you've just read out. I would be happy to get some information from the Minister for Health and bring an answer back. But the other part of your question was with regard to focus on regional health, and let me just tell you that the budget that we brought down two days ago had a huge focus on regional health—absolutely no doubt about that whatsoever.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will be seated. Member for West Torrens, you can leave under 137A for half an hour.

The honourable member for West Torrens having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: So, for the benefit of the house, let me just share some of that information which may well be linked to the person you were asking about before, member for Kaurna: $140 million over 10 years for country health capital works—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —to significantly improve our regional hospital and health infrastructure; $20 million over four years to develop and implement a rural workforce strategy to address the shortage of health practitioners in rural areas; $8.5 million over three years for the construction of a new 24-bed aged-care facility in Strathalbyn and the future fit-out of the Kalimna hospital—a community consultation process will determine if the Kalimna hospital will be used to refit the site for aged-care accommodation and transform it into a hub—$7 million over three years to upgrade the emergency—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —department at the Murray Bridge Soldiers' Memorial Hospital—

Mr Duluk interjecting:

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

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —and $6.9 million over four years to deliver additional chemo services in regional areas, allowing patients to receive lifesaving treatment closer to home. A further $5 million has been provided for the implementation of a single statewide chemotherapy prescribing system; $2.1 million over two years to deliver on the Marshall team's election promise to expand and upgrade the renal dialysis unit at the Mount Gambier hospital; two renal dialysis chairs will be added, enabling a further—

The SPEAKER: There's a point of order, minister. Please be seated.

Mr PICTON: Point of order, Mr Speaker: this is completely off topic.

The Hon. T.J. Whetstone: What number?

Mr PICTON: Debate, 98.

The SPEAKER: Debate, 98. Minister, I will listen carefully. Please come back to the substance of the question. I understand it was a broad one but please come back to that.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Just to help the shadow minister, I will select from this extensive list, which has many more items still to come, only the ones that are regional, that are statewide and that could very well apply to Eyre Peninsula—which is exactly what he was asking about.

The SPEAKER: Yes, minister, please add more to what is already in the public domain, though.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: There is $1 million over four years for the South Australian Healthy Towns Challenge—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: No, I am just trying to filter the ones out. You said you don't care about any of these other places in South Australia—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: You said you do not care about the South-East, about the Riverland, about the outback. You said you only wanted to know about Eyre Peninsula.

The SPEAKER: Is the minister finished? Is the minister still going? Please wind up your answer.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Yes, sir; we've got much more.

The SPEAKER: Please wind up your answer.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Yes, sir. Don't you worry; we've got lots more. I am just trying to filter out the good news for the rest of the state and the good news about the parts the member specifically asked for.

Ms Cook interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hurtle Vale is warned for a second and final time.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Clearly the opposition is not interested in this good news, so let me just make it very clear—

Mr Hughes interjecting:

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

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —that we take the concerns of anybody in the health system about regional health in South Australia extremely seriously, and I will bring back an answer about the person you have—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister's time has expired. The member for Kaurna.

Ms Stinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Badcoe is on two warnings, and the member for Giles is warned for a first time. The member for Kaurna.