SA Pathology

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (15:16): Supplementary: do we understand it correctly that SA Pathology will not be privatised until they fail to meet what is in the final year of what is in their budget? The question I think was: what are the savings that need to be reached to prevent privatisation? Is the Treasurer saying they have to come in under $42 million in a particular year not to be privatised?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (15:17): I am not sure how that is supplementary to the question.

The PRESIDENT: Well, a clarification.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: The question was: what was the number, and I have given the number which was, as I said, my understanding is $42 million. I can only repeat what I said yesterday and, I suspect, also the honourable minister may well have said, and that is that the Budget Measures document makes it quite clear that the expectation—and the minister has outlined the process, I am not going to repeat the process again—the expectation of the Budget Measures document, which is quite apparent for anyone who is prepared to do the hard work and read the Budget Measures document, is that SA Pathology will be given the opportunity to, in essence, meet the efficiencies that other interstate public sector peer organisations already perform at.

The minister outlined the process but ultimately, as I indicated in the budget speech and have done so on a number of public occasions since then, if the government makes the judgement that SA Pathology is either unable to or unwilling to meet that level of savings on behalf of the taxpayers of South Australia, then there will be the option, as outlined by the minister yesterday, for alternative provision of those services.