Elective Surgery

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (15:14): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Health and Wellbeing regarding public hospitals.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: The minister assured the council earlier this week that there would be no cancellation of elective surgery today. Will the minister update the council on the management of elective surgery in South Australian hospitals?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Point of order, Mr President, in the question: I think the honourable member may have inadvertently misled parliament because the minister did not rule out that they would not be cancelled. He refused to get up and give the chamber this assurance. I ask the honourable member to perhaps reflect to see if he has inadvertently misled the chamber.

The PRESIDENT: I'm not upholding the point of order. The member has given a brief explanation about matters which are in accordance with his understanding. If they are incorrect, then the minister is going to have an opportunity to correct them. Minister.

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:16): I thank the honourable member for his question. The honourable member is quite right to recall that earlier this week I quoted into the record a statement by the SA Health executive directors of Nursing and Midwifery, which made it very clear—

The Hon. K.J. Maher: That's not what the question was. The question asked whether—

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, I can't hear.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Through you, Mr President, I thank the honourable member for their question and their ongoing interest in the South Australian health system.

The Hon. I.K. Hunter interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: No; the Hon. Mr Hunter, I heard that. That is going down a path that won't assist the opposition benches. Minister, please start again.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Through you, Mr President, I thank the honourable member for their question and their ongoing interest in the South Australian public health system. Today, South Australians can rely on their hospitals to provide scheduled surgery after the ANMF abandoned its industrial bans. Today is the day that the nurses' union had nominated to start cancelling elective surgery. Today, 44 South Australians are scheduled for elective surgery. Today, 44 South Australians and their families and the medical professionals who care for them have been freed from the anxiety—

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Point of order, Mr President.

The PRESIDENT: Minister, just sit down, please. Point of order.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: The honourable member asked a question about a guarantee that the minister gave, not any guarantee that others gave.

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, I appreciate your concern that the Hon. John Dawkins' question gets answered, but I think on this sort of point of order it is up to the Hon. John Dawkins to raise any concerns he has with the response to his question. I am anticipating, given that it is a Liberal question to a Liberal, he is not going to be disappointed. The Hon. John Dawkins.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: To the point of order, sir.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, can we just calm down?

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: I'll shout you down anytime you like. To the point of order, sir, my explanation was that the minister assured the council earlier this week that there would be no cancellation of elective—

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Point of order, Mr President.

The PRESIDENT: You can't have a point of order on a point of order.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Well, that's what I'm saying. That's my point of order.

The PRESIDENT: Sit down!

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: I don't think you can debate a point of order.

The PRESIDENT: I cannot hear the member's point of order. The Hon. Mr Dawkins.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: I made that point because the Leader of the Opposition had verbalised what I had asked, and I just put that down as exactly what my explanation—

The PRESIDENT: Matter of explanation. The Hon. Mr Hunter, do you wish to pursue your point of order?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: No, sir. I always abide by your directions, obviously.

The PRESIDENT: Really? Well. Minister.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I am very pleased that today the 44 South Australians who are scheduled to receive elective surgery—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —will receive that surgery. Today, 44 South Australians and their families and the medical professionals who care for them have been freed from the anxiety and uncertainty sown by the ANMF, egged on by Labor. Considering the bans were apparently ongoing—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —surgery for many more South Australians was put at risk. Labor's active support of the nurses' union highlights that Labor will always put unions before people. Faced with a union campaign threatening patient safety, they scared patients by suggesting that they would not get their care. Faced with a union threatening to defy an order of the industrial tribunal, they encouraged the law of the jungle in industrial relations. Faced with a choice between the unions or the people of South Australia, Labor backed the union.

Yesterday, even after the union had backed down, Labor members of this place did not step back. They continued to agitate against the government when we had averted a misguided and futile ban. In government and in opposition, Labor puts politics before patients. Today, the secretary of the ANMF admitted on radio that she had been approached by Labor to run as their candidate. She indicated that she did not take up the offer, but you have to ask whether Labor's support for the nurses' union bans were part of making way for a potential Labor candidate.

We know they lost the trust of the South Australian people. They will never recover the trust of the people as long as they continue to disregard patient welfare in the pursuit of political gain. Labor's Transforming Health deformed the South Australian public health system. Labor cut beds, they broke their promise and closed the Repat, they downgraded services at Modbury Hospital—

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, you are trying my patience.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —The Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Noarlunga Hospital. They tried to close the neonatal unit at Flinders Medical Centre and they left the state with a $2.44 billion new hospital which doesn't even work properly. Labor in government mismanaged health and in opposition they continue to get in the way of good government. They continue to disrupt the government that is trying to fix their mess. The Marshall Liberal government will clean up Labor's mess. It won't happen overnight but we will work through the challenges in a methodical and consultative manner to improve health care in this state.