Health Services

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (15:04): A point of clarification, sir. I wasn't interested in anything about lectures. I am asking what your policies are in terms of privatisation and any plans you have for privatisation of clinical services. Will you rule that out?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:04): The fact of the matter is that we will not rule out partnerships with the private sector. Let's take some examples of options facing me now, which are exactly the same options that were facing the Labor Party last year. Did the Labor Party stand up against privatisation when it decided to lease 12 beds from the Flinders Private Hospital? Did the Labor Party stand up against privatisation when they placed 20 step-down beds at the ViTA facility? Did the Labor Party stand up against privatisation when they (I don't know if they actually took up the contract) made arrangements to place public patients in private hospitals to cope with last year's winter demand?

The fact of the matter is, the Labor Party was more than willing to contract private services. We will continue to cooperate with non-government providers and private sector providers—whatever we think is in the best interest of public health in South Australia. We will continue to deliver the best outcomes, not only for South Australian taxpayers but also for South Australian patients.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Hunter, I can feel that this is a supplementary question coming on.