SA Ambulance Service

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (14:36): My question is to the Premier. Does the Premier agree with the Chief Executive of SA Ambulance, David Place, that the service is going 'backwards', is simply 'treading water' and is only 'getting harder'? With your leave and that of the house, sir, I will explain.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my right!

Leave granted.

Mr PICTON: Last week, on ABC 891 radio SA Ambulance Service chief executive, David Place, was asked if resourcing was going backwards, and he said, 'Yes, treading water is as best as you could put it.' When asked if the situation was deteriorating, he said, 'Yes, it is getting harder.'

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:37): I didn't hear that interview and the context in which it was stated but, as I have just updated the house, we have very significantly increased the resources, both financial and physical resources, to the South Australian Ambulance Service since we have come into government. We are in a negotiation period at the moment for the new enterprise bargaining agreement. We are listening to what the South Australian Ambulance Service is putting forward.

We know that they do an outstanding job for our state, we know that they work very hard and we know that the current situation with regard to ramping is unacceptable in South Australia, but there is not one simple solution to the current situation that we inherited from those opposite on coming into government. There is a comprehensive program that is being implemented. If it was just one simple thing that needed to be changed, it would have already been done. The reality is there is much work to be done.

At the moment, there are some very large capital projects well in excess of a billion dollars going across our hospitals, both metropolitan and country, and more than a hundred million dollars of that is going into the capacity increases and the capability upgrades within our emergency departments in South Australia.