KordaMentha

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (15:19): Supplementary question: is KordaMentha the same group of people who resurrected the fortunes of Whyalla when it was going down the gurgler?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:19): I thank the honourable member for his question, because it does highlight the hypocrisy of the Labor Party. KordaMentha were the saviours when they were stepping in and helping the recovery of Whyalla and now they are some sort of demonic force now that they are trying to help recover the public health system. I think there would be a lot of people in Whyalla who have more confidence in KordaMentha to help deliver a turnaround than that hopeless mob across the other side. Labor, over 16 years, delivered a health system which had in the last year a tenfold increase in overdue elective surgery. They completely failed in terms of financial—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Tenfold. Sorry, the honourable member wants to check that I wasn't getting my facts wrong. It is tenfold. In the last financial year, they had a tenfold increase in the overdue elective surgery. What that means is that South Australians who needed surgery—elective surgery doesn't mean it is not important; it can often be life saving—were faced with a tenfold increase in elective surgery waiting lists in the last financial year. At the same time, the former Labor government was delivering the results that I referred to earlier. Of all the hospitals in Australia, we managed to get the four worst in terms of emergency department waits, and half of the ten worst in terms of elective surgery.

The honourable member highlights the strong response of the Marshall Liberal government to deliver this turnaround. We do not believe, after 16 years of Labor mismanagement, that more of the same could give us any hope of recovering from that situation. What we have done—and I must admit it is very creative—is we have actually put in health boards. You might say to me, 'Hasn't every other local health network in Australia got boards?'

The PRESIDENT: Minister, the Hon. Ms Franks is on her feet on a point of order.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: Point of order: the supplementary was whether this was the same KordaMentha that was involved in Whyalla. I don't think KordaMentha has anything to do with boards, and I am pretty sure that the minister has answered this with a yes without ever saying 'yes'.

The PRESIDENT: The member would like you to keep on point, but the minister has some latitude.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I apologise for not having a train that was clear enough to follow. What I was referring to was KordaMentha is part of a three-pronged—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Allow the minister to answer in silence.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Just to get the daisy chain of logic here, the honourable member asked me about KordaMentha.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The minister has finished. The Hon. Mr Parnell.