House of Assembly: Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Contents

Hibbert Review

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (14:45): My question is for the Premier. Can the Premier confirm for the house what the health minister has just told the other place, that the Hibbert inquiry was commissioned by the South Australian Ambulance Service before the minister was briefed in December?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:46): I thank the member for his question. Of course, my answer was not in any way, shape or form inconsistent with the—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Badcoe is on two warnings. The member for Kaurna is warned. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr Speaker. As I was saying, my answer that was provided to this house is completely consistent with that provided by the Minister for Health and Wellbeing in the other place. The reality is that the South Australian Ambulance Service is part of the government. The government commissioned the report proactively. When it was provided to the cabinet, it was immediately released.

The reality is that we have done everything we can to shine a light on a problem that we inherited from the previous government. If you read the report when you get a chance, sir, you will see many times throughout the report it talks about the culture that existed, which was a massive focus on KPIs rather than on clinical outcomes. That has been recognised by the South Australian Ambulance Service, so I commend officers and the leadership within the South Australian Ambulance Service for proactively seeking to improve their performance.

The Hon. T.J. Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Primary Industries is called to order.