Women's and Children's Hospital

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (14:29): My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier intervene and immediately put a halt to the next round of front-line staff cuts at the Women's and Children's Hospital?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:30): Well, I don't know whether the member was listening, but the reality is there has been an increase in staff at the Women's and Children's Hospital. There has been an increase—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is warned.

Mr Picton: The hospital admitted they're cutting staff.

The SPEAKER: The member for Kaurna is on two warnings.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The member is right: there have been some voluntary separation packages. In the first round, there was a total of 12.1 full-time equivalent staff, and none of them were on the front line. My understanding is that in the second round it's a very small number. There has been an increase in the budget, a 14 per cent increase in the first two years of this government. It's up to the board how they apply that increased funding. They have more staff than when we came to government, so I am fully satisfied. Of course there are issues, and we will sit down in a respectful way and we will work through each and every one of them.