House of Assembly Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1) 54 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Hospital Beds Hospital Beds Mr MALINAUSKAS House of Assembly Croydon Leader of the Opposition Hospital Beds Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:17): My question is again to the Premier. Does the Premier stand by the remarks of his health minister who stated on ABC radio this morning, and I quote, 'We need to have fewer beds'? The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL House of Assembly Dunstan Premier Hospital Beds The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:17): Well, I haven't seen those comments, but all I can make clear to the house is that all we are about at the moment— The Hon. V.A. Chapman interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The Deputy Premier is called to order. The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL House of Assembly The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —on this side of the house is actually increasing the number of hospital beds. We've got to make sure that we've got the right number of beds in the right place. I don't— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left! The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL House of Assembly The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —know what those opposite have been doing. They are obviously not doing their job and following what is happening in health, but they had a plan which would have had 20 beds down at the Repat site closing in December this year. We have decided to keep them open. That's 20 additional beds over what those opposite would have had in place as of the end of this year. More than that— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL House of Assembly The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —we have invested in an additional 20 beds at the Repat hospital, taking it to an additional 40 beds on that site, to deal with some of the problems that we inherited from those opposite. Now, I think it is all very, very well known that there are some serious issues within our hospitals, what people refer to as 'bed block'— Ms Cook interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for Hurtle Vale is called to order. The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL House of Assembly The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: It is almost impossible to believe those opposite, sir. They were in for 16 years. They made a comprehensive mess. There is not one person in South Australia who thinks they did a good job with health. There is actually nobody on that side who thinks that they did a good job in health. Who was the minister? The reality is you made a comprehensive mess with health. We have been elected to sort it out, and that's precisely what we will do.