Mount Gambier Renal Dialysis Unit

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (15:11): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Health and Wellbeing.

Leave granted.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: In question time last week, the minister stated that the previous Labor government did not support the renal dialysis unit in Mount Gambier. However, on 24 January 2018, TheBorder Watch newspaper correctly reported that the Labor government had committed to funding the unit. In fact—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: In fact, the funding was in the state Labor government's Mid-Year Budget Review. Since this funding was in the former state Labor government's Mid-Year Budget Review, will the minister now admit that he has once again effectively misled the chamber?

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Let the minister answer in silence.

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:12): My comment was in the context of the term as a whole. I acknowledge that the honourable member may well be right and it may well have been in the Mid-Year Budget Review, but the fact of the matter is that this former Labor government had form when it came to breaching commitments. Let's look at the—

The Hon. C.M. Scriven interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Let the minister answer in silence.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: You are learning bad habits from your leader.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Okay, well let's talk about TQEH stage 3 redevelopment. It was in the budget—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Let the minister answer in silence, please.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Budgets come and budgets go, elections come and elections go, but a Labor Party will continue to break promises, whether it is delivering on the Repat or delivering on TQEH stage 3 redevelopment. They promised it in 2010, they promised it in 2014 going into the election, it was in the budget—it was still a broken promise.

The Labor Party announced their Mount Gambier renal commitment after we did—we did that in late 2017. Yet the former minister, Mr Malinauskas, actually went to Mount Gambier after the Bollywood event, which I attended, and did not make a commitment. The fact that it was in the Mid-Year Budget Review would be of no comfort to the people of Mount Gambier because Labor Party governments break promises and they break budgets.