Syphilis Outbreaks

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (14:52): Supplementary arising again from the original answer: given the minister has just admitted that he was aware of the syphilis outbreak, why then has the government cut funding to HIV and STI prevention programs in the state budget?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:52): I go back to the point I made earlier, which was that we have, shall we say, base funding or recurrent funding. We also always stand ready to respond to emerging threats. Treasury retains contingencies and so does Health and, as I indicated to the Hon. Tammy Franks, I will specifically speak to the public health branch about making sure they have the resources they need in the current context.