Mental Health Services

Ms MICHAELS (Enfield) (15:05): My question is to the Premier. What impact does the Premier believe the government's 25 per cent cut in mental health funding will have for NGOs providing mental health services to organisations like Catherine House?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (15:05): We have gone through this in the last sitting period. There is no cut that the Liberal Party or the Liberal government in South Australia has put through to mental health funding in South Australia. There has been a transfer of patients from the state jurisdiction to the federal jurisdiction. The funding has transferred with them to that federal jurisdiction.

I strongly encourage those members opposite to really look at the facts of this matter. This was an arrangement put in place when the NDIS deal was signed between a federal Labor government and a state Labor government, and we are implementing that plan at the moment. Some of the issues raised by those opposite and by others—

Mr Patterson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morphett is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —via the media are really putting a lot of stress onto a very vulnerable section of our community, so I ask those opposite to do the reasonable thing—

Mr Picton interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Kaurna is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —the responsible thing, and to make sure that their members on that side are fully informed of exactly and precisely what is happening—and there is no such cut as suggested by the member in her question.