Modbury Hospital

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (15:13): Supplementary arising from the original answer: as the minister has informed the house, there were safety concerns raised by officers within his department. What were those concerns?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:13): As I have already said, I am not aware of any specific concerns being raised.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: You have asked your question. Let the minister respond.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Let the minister respond to your question, Leader of the Opposition.

The Hon. K.J. Maher: This is seriously misleading, Stephen.

The PRESIDENT: We don't need commentary.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, we don't need commentary. Let the minister answer.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I am not aware of details of the advice in relation to specific risks. To be honest with you, I would be amazed if there was. The fact the matter is, an HDU responds to all sorts of risks. We expect an HDU to support emergency departments in terms of deteriorating patients. We expect an HDU—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Let the minister respond to the question, and through me, minister.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: We expect an HDU to be able to support a high level of complex surgery. We expect an HDU to be able to provide the Code Blue medical emergency response that a hospital needs. If the department gave me advice that an HDU could not operate safely, I would just assume that it related to all of the domains that an HDU operates in.

I am not aware of specific concerns, and I stand by my statement that the people of the north-east had a whole range of advice available to them leading up to the 17 March election. There was plenty of opportunity for the government to discredit that advice, and the people of the South-East put their confidence in three members who are now in seats that were formerly held by Labor Party members.