Health Budget

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (14:48): My question is to the Premier. How will the government keep the health budget frozen for the next three years despite increasing demand for services?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:48): Far from keeping it frozen, what we have done is invested an additional $1.6 billion into the health budget in South Australia. If we didn't do that and the previous government's health budget—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —was in place, I think we would have put lives at risk in South Australia. By contrast, what we have done is a massive investment—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —$1.6 billion back into the health system to give it a realistic budget. Let me tell you what the previous government did.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: debate, sir, whenever you reference what the previous government did.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I have the point of order. I am trying to be consistent here. I will allow the Premier some compare and contrast but only to a level, and if it does deviate into debate I will pull him up. Premier.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I think that the $1.6 billion reinvestment that we have made into the health system will give it a sustainable budget going forward. We are not pretending that all issues in the health system have been solved. There are still very significant issues that we inherited from those opposite, but we are happy to work through those in a controlled way.

If we take, for example, the work that has recently been done at the Central Adelaide Local Health Network, there has been progress. I will outline a couple of those areas for the house. For example, we have reduced the use of agency nursing within the Central Adelaide Local Health Network by 90 per cent. This is an improvement to the bottom line because we know that the cost of agency nurses is actually 40 per cent higher than the cost of permanent staff within the department. The good news is that it is also very good from a clinical perspective because we have continuity of care for patients.

Moreover, it creates more jobs within the Central Adelaide Local Health Network, rather than pushing them out to the private sector. So it is a big win in terms of the budget, a big win in terms of continuity of care and a big win for permanent nurses within the Central Adelaide Local Health Network. They are just a few of the examples that we are putting into place to drive a better, more sustainable budget outcome in terms of health and, most importantly, a better health system for the people of our state.