Ambulance Ramping

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (15:16): My question is to the Premier. Does the Premier take responsibility for the first-ever ramping seen at the Women's and Children's Hospital last Tuesday evening?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (15:16): I do recall this story being in the media, and I remember the outrage that was expressed by those opposite. I took the time to make inquiries via my office. In fact, there were a large number of people who went to that emergency department on that day—in fact, I think in the order of 30 to 35, which is an unusually large number. All but one were seen within the clinical accepted time, and that person was outside by 10 minutes. I know that those opposite would like to undermine the confidence that people have in the health system in South Australia. I, by contrast, believe we should be very proud of what has occurred here in South Australia right throughout COVID-19.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We have been investing very significantly in upgrading the facilities at the Women's and Children's Hospital, pending the building of a brand-new purpose-built Women's and Children's Hospital. Those opposite spoke about a dedicated Women's and Children's—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, Minister for Trade! Order, member for Chaffey! Order, member for West Torrens! The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Those opposite talk about the Women's and Children's Hospital. In fact, whilst they were in government they promised that they would build a new Women's and Children's Hospital, then they cancelled it, and then they said, 'Well, we will just build the women's only'—or maybe it was the children's only—it was very hard to actually discern what their position was; it flip-flopped around quite a bit. One minute they are out there telling people that they would never ever close the Repat. They had a pledge card that said that it was signed by the leader of the Labor Party at the time, and of course then they went ahead and closed it.

It's very difficult to discern exactly and precisely what their health strategy is for South Australia. What I know is that our focus in South Australia—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is called to order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —is on providing the very best health service for our state. Primarily, at the moment our focus is on getting through this coronavirus global pandemic, and I think on any independent analysis every South Australian should feel proud that they live in the safest state on the safest continent on this earth.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Notwithstanding our focus on that issue, we are also simultaneously unwinding the mess that we inherited from those opposite with Transforming Health. They downgraded hospitals; they closed hospitals. The Leader of the Opposition himself was the Minister for Health when they closed the Repat and broke the heart of so many South Australians.

What we have done by contrast is to massively increase the operational expenditure of the health department. We have gone from $5.8 billion—that was the budget that we inherited from those opposite—and we have grown it now to $7.4 billion. More than that—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, Minister for Trade! The leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —we've put more than $1 billion into upgrading our facilities, whether it be that urgent maintenance required for our Country Health or important upgrades to emergency departments across metropolitan and country SA. Much of this has been delivered, some of it is still remaining to be delivered. But those opposite—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —left South Australia in a perilous state in terms of health. I would love to have—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is called to order.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —delivered a full, complete transformation. We have been held back to some extent—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: Well, I tell you what: why don't you have a debate with the leader about it?

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee is called to order.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —of course, with dealing with the most pressing issue—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: Why don't you have a debate?

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —of the coronavirus. But that is what we still remain committed to doing: making sure that we can provide the very best health response to the coronavirus and then unwind the mess that we were left by those opposite.