Country Health Services

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:56): Supplementary: is the minister able to outline what percentage of the savings target for SA Pathology will hit country people and country services?

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Minister, you were updating the council on Country Health.

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:57): I fail to see how it is supplementary, but SA Pathology efficiencies will be found right across the state.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Let's just leave the commentary out.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: They are being looked at both internally by SA Pathology management and by the PricewaterhouseCoopers report. The honourable member's supplementary, if that's what it was, gives me the opportunity to reflect on the hypocrisy of the Labor Party, which through the Ernst and Young report identified, I think, $42 million worth of savings. I don't think it was the Ernst and Young report, but there was another report that the Labor Party received, I think it was perhaps in 2014, which actually recommended privatising country pathology services. So this is a party that preaches antiprivatisation and then commissions a report to recommend it.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Opposition benches, allow the minister to answer the question. Minister.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: When the then minister, Jack Snelling, received the report and it became public, I think it took another four months before Mr Snelling ruled out privatisation, but then the Ernst and Young report went on full steam and recommended $42 million worth of efficiencies.

The former Labor government, of course, courageous as they ever were, coming up to the last election was feeling the heat because they completely locked out the clinicians and their employee organisation from the Ernst and Young review, which completely undermined the credibility of that program. My recollection is that in mid-2017 they suspended or postponed the efficiency program until after the 2018 election.

This government makes no apologies looking for efficiencies in public health services because South Australians deserve to have high quality sustainable health services. We are not going to be ideological like the Labor Party, which in government calls for efficiencies and in opposition rails against them.

The Hon. I.K. Hunter interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Hunter, restrain yourself. The Hon. Ms Bonaros.