Women's and Children's Hospital

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:04): My question is to the Premier. When did the Premier first become aware of a letter from 215 doctors to the chief executive last year?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:05): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. I don't recall the exact time and date I received notice of the complaints of some of the clinicians—

An honourable member: Some?

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —who work at the Women's and Children's Hospital.

Ms Stinson: Half the workforce.

The SPEAKER: Member for Badcoe!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Can I report to the house how diligently we have been working, since coming to government with regard—

Mr Brown interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Playford!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —to matters that were left—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left, please!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —to us to clean up when we came into government. When I look at our performance in terms of the Women's and Children's Hospital, I can only see the fact that we have invested significantly more money in terms of the operational budget each year. We have committed capital to consistently upgrade the facilities before we move to the new hospital, and we have actually put half a billion dollars into the budget here in South Australia and committed half a billion dollars to begin the work necessary to create a co-located Women's and Children's Hospital with the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

This is in line with what the clinicians have been asking for for a long period of time. In fact, it was a position that the previous government—as you would be more than aware, sir—did commit to and then they reneged on their commitment and said, 'No, we're not going to give you a co-located Women's and Children's Hospital, we're not going to listen to the clinicians, we're not going to pay attention to what best practice looks like right around the country.'

They said that they knew what was best. Well, we have been listening to the clinicians with regard to that matter, and when I look at some of the areas of increased budget it is quite startling compared to the previous government. In fact, when we came into government—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Well, I'm speaking directly to the issue of the Women's and Children's Hospital—

The SPEAKER: I'm listening.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —and the work the government has done in this area, and I'm very happy to. Others don't want to listen to that of course.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: When I look at the budget estimate when we came into government, the budget for the Women's and Children's Hospital was $442 million per year. In our first budget, that increased by—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir: this information is before the house already in the budget papers. The question of relevance here is when did the Premier first become aware.

The SPEAKER: The point of order is for debate. I have the point of order. I'm listening carefully to the Premier's statements; if he does get into debate, then I will pull him up. The question, the way I took it, was almost accusatory. It spoke about a 'collapse', so I'm going to listen carefully—

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Yes. So I'm going to listen carefully to what the Premier has to say and if I need to, I will step in. Premier.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Thank you very much, sir. Far from collapse, in fact we have been building up the wreckage we inherited—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —in terms of health in South Australia—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left! I am trying to hear the Premier's answer.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —when we came to government. In the first state budget, we increased the budget for the Women's and Children's Hospital by 7.8 per cent, or $34.5 million, in the 2018-19 year. In our most recent budget, we increased the budget again by 6.7 per cent, or $31.8 million, in 2019-20.

As can be seen and evidenced by this, we have been making substantial investments in three critical areas. One is into the recurrent budget, with significant increases since we came into government—7.8 in the first year and 6.7 in the following year—and a substantial increase in the capital budget, a $50 million commitment to make sure that the standards of equipment and the provision of services at the hospital are of the highest standard as we transition to the new site.

The capital budget increase has been at $50 million, and in addition to that we have already put half a billion into the forward estimates for the transfer of the Women's and Children's Hospital to the new site to be co-located with the Royal Adelaide Hospital. I think that is evidence that we are continuing to work with the Women's and Children's Hospital and their staff there. It is not without its problems. The entire health system in South Australia has been—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —left in a perilous state by the previous government, but we are doing everything we can to fix the problems and do it as quickly as possible.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the member for King, I call the following members to order: the member for Hurtle Vale, and I warn her; the member for Light; the member for Playford, and he is warned; the member Taylor; the member for Ramsay; the member for Kaurna, and he is warned; and the member for MacKillop.