Question Time

Ambulance Ramping

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:10): My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier apologise to South Australians for what is seen as Labor's greatest statement of electoral fraud? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

The SPEAKER: I will ask the opposition leader to sit down. The Leader of Government Business.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I ask that the leader rephrase the question so that it is within standing orders.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I concur with the minister. If the leader can rephrase the question and perhaps leave one particular word out.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I will rephrase. Has the Premier fixed ramping? With your leave, sir, and that of the house I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: At the 2022 state election the Premier promised to fix ramping. In July we experienced the worst ramping on record of 5,539 hours, bringing the total ramping hours under this government to over 100,000 hours.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:11): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. There is much work to be done, and only on the weekend (on Sunday) I, along with the Minister for Health, were at the Lyell McEwin Hospital where we were able to open up yet another 48 beds at the Lyell McEwin Hospital, which is of course part of a comprehensive package where, from the period of 1 July this year to the end of the calendar year, we will open over 150 beds throughout the public hospital system. Throughout the course of next year we will open another 180 beds in the public hospital system.

Amongst other openings, it means that throughout the four-year period of this term of government we will not just have opened 300 beds, which we committed to at the last state election, but many, many more beds than that. Because there is essentially not a public hospital in the state of South Australia that is not having an upgrade or an expansion as a result of the investment that is being made by this government. Whether it be at the Repat or Flinders or the Lyell Mac or Modbury or Noarlunga or Port Augusta or Whyalla—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my left, the Premier will be heard in silence.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —or Clare or Mount Gambier, you name it—

Mr Patterson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Morphett, second warning.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —this state government is investing in our public hospital system unlike any other government that has come before us. On top of that, we are of course in the process of delivering a $3.2 billion brand-new Women's and Children's Hospital that, unlike the former government, will actually be a bigger hospital than the one that we have at North Adelaide currently. All these investments are rolling out progressively.

Of course, the contrast between this policy and the policy of those opposite could not be starker. The contrast could not be starker, because here we have a government that is building capacity within the hospital system—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta, second warning. The member for Frome, second warning.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —versus those opposite that only—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Premier, will you please sit down. To members of the opposition, the Premier will be heard in silence. There is a couple of you on second warnings and people will be going very early in question time if I do not hear silence from my left. The Premier.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Without the—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey can leave the chamber until the end of question time.

The honourable member for Chaffey having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: Without the emotion, I am very happy to make clear to the people of South Australia that there is a stark contrast in terms of the policy positions between those on this side of the house who do believe we need to invest in the infrastructure that is required in our state hospital system versus those opposite. Only earlier today, the member for Hammond was on his feet in this place making clear that he is of the view that additional investment in hospital infrastructure is not necessary.

The idea that we don't need more investment in hospital infrastructure boggles the mind, given that even the member for Hammond should know that we do have a situation across the country where we have a growing population and an ageing population, which means we need capacity in the system to fix it.

That is not just going to happen. It's got to be invested in and built up, and that's exactly what this government is committed to doing, it is what we are already delivering, and you need only ask the men and women who are working in our hospital system—the extra 1,000 of them over and above attrition, who are frontline clinicians who are currently employed today and who never would have been if the former government had executed their policy of ongoing cuts and redundancies to the health system.