Public Hospital Nurses

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (14:25): My question is to the Premier. Why does the most recent Auditor-General's Report show that between July 2019 and July 2020 there was a reduction in the number of nurses of 112 over that year?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left! The Minister for Education has the call.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (14:25): The member for Kaurna has been taking hints from the Leader of the Opposition and cherrypicking the information that suits whatever story they are telling. The fact is this is a government that has invested more than $2 billion extra in the health system.

Mr Picton interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Kaurna is warned.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: This is a government that has invested more than $1 billion extra in infrastructure. The situation we received from the Labor Party when they departed office—when they departed the treasury bench, when the member for West Torrens ceased to be the Treasurer, when the member for Kaurna ceased to be the assistant minister for health—was that, were they to deliver on the settings then in place, there would now be $2 billion less in the health system and $1 billion less in infrastructure upgrades currently underway.

The member for Kaurna can pick and choose from where he draws the numbers, but the fact is that there are more doctors, more nurses, more facilities and more budget in the health system. There are more ambulance officers in the health system. There is, indeed, an increase as a result of this government's work. The Minister for Health is doing a very, very sterling job in this area and this government is proud of the record of what we are creating—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —in the context of dealing with the global pandemic on the one front and also—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Mawson!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —equally in the context of dealing with the situation, the system, that was left to us by our predecessors. It is impossible to detach the circumstances in March 2018, as a result of 16 years of Labor administration of health in this state, from the reality that we are in now.

Of course, with the introduction of the increased investment this government has put in, the introduction of increased investment in infrastructure, and the expansion of pretty much, I think, every single emergency department in the network—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: The Leader of the Opposition says, 'No worries,' as if he was not part of the government that was selling off the Repat, as if he wasn't—

The SPEAKER: The minister will not respond to interjections.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —the Minister for Health in a government that presided over a decision to have an emergency department at Flinders Medical Centre that the former minister has identified was too small.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will resume his seat. The member for West Torrens on a point of order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Standing order 98: the minister is debating the answer. The question was very specific about reductions listed in the Auditor-General's Report, so if he could come back to that, about the reduction in nursing numbers, as stated in the Auditor-General's Report.

The SPEAKER: Whether with or without, properly, the benefit of leave, the question was accepted by the minister, and it asked a question in relation to a stated reduction of 112 between July 2019 and July 2020, according to that report. I am listening carefully to the minister's answer, which is responding directly to that question and, in my view, is providing relevant context for the time being. I do not uphold the point of order. The minister has the call.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Thank you, sir. The government came to office in 2018, and in the time from 2018 to 2020 there was an increase of well in excess of 286 more nurses and midwives from when we came to office. So from when the Leader of the Opposition was the health minister and from when the member for Kaurna—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: He doesn't want to hear this part of the answer because he was the assistant health minister. I corrected the record last week when he was offended that I called him the adviser for Transforming Health; it turns out he was actually assistant minister. From that time until 2020, the date the member chooses, there was an increase of more than 280 delivered under this government as opposed to when they were in office. The Labor Party are terrified of anybody having a look at their record on health. Sixteen years they were in government, yet the Labor Party's leader has been protected again. It's like they are ashamed that they were ever in government.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: The minister will resume his seat. The member for West Torrens on a point of order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Again standing order 98: I think it's clear now that the minister is debating the answer.

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens again raises a point of order on debate, relying on standing order 98. I have ruled in relation to the relevant context within which the minister is providing the answer. In my view, the minister continues to be providing an answer that is both relevant and responsive to the questions, so I don't uphold the point of order. The minister has the call.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Once again, the member is cherrypicking where he would like his data to come from. I think it is entirely relevant to identify that this government came to office in 2018 and we were confronted with a set of circumstances that we have worked day and night for three years to address to improve the situation of the health system for the people of South Australia, just as in every other range of government services.

We have done it at a time of pandemic. We have done it at a time of extraordinary disruption and we have done it despite the fact that those opposite tried to destroy the health system with their Transforming Health agenda and then left us in a situation that needed significant remedy. That is the work that we are doing, that is the work that we continue to do and that is the work that we are proud of. Yes, there is more work to do, but we were left with a hell of a lot of work when we came in in 2018.