Legislative Council: Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Contents

Influenza Vaccinations

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (14:28): Supplementary question: can the minister advise whether any residents in the aged-care facilities who are impacted by the lockdowns, about which he apparently knows nothing, who had been unable to obtain—

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Ms Scriven, do not adopt the bad habits of the Leader of the Opposition. A straight question on clarification, please.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: My apologies, Mr President—a flu vaccination before the lockdown began?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:28): Sorry, I only heard components of that.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Please restate—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I can't hear.

The Hon. T.J. Stephens interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: I can't hear. The Hon. Mr Stephens, you are not assisting me either. The Hon. Ms Scriven, please restate the supplementary—short, sharp, by way of clarification.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Happy to oblige. My question to the minister is: were there any residents in the aged-care facilities impacted by lockdowns who had been unable to obtain a flu vaccination before the lockdown began?

The Hon. S.G. WADE: The opposition continues to show how shallow their information base is.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The council would like to hear the minister's answer.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: It is not a requirement for residential aged-care facilities to contact any state jurisdiction, South Australia or elsewhere; it is a recommendation under the aged-care guidelines of the commonwealth. SA Health has made public—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I cannot hear the minister.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: SA Health has publicly advised—

The Hon. K.J. Maher: 'We don't know. No idea.'

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —that they had been—

The PRESIDENT: If you allow the minister to answer, you might know. I don't know, and I'm listening to the minister. Minister, please complete your answer.

The Hon. K.J. Maher: He doesn't seek any answers; he doesn't know anything.

The PRESIDENT: Well, ask that next time you are on the whipping sheet, Leader of the Opposition. Minister, please finish your answer.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Actually, rather than getting fragments of questions, I would like to give a complete answer, so I will go back and recap what I have already said. What I have already said, and I want to be clear on this—

The Hon. K.J. Maher: The answer is: 'I've got no idea, because I haven't bothered to ask.' That's what—

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, allow him to at least get a couple of sentences out until you try to interrupt.

The Hon. K.J. Maher: His answer was that he's got no idea because no-one bothers to ask, including himself.

The PRESIDENT: I don't wish to have a conversation about the minister's answer; I would just like to hear the minister's answer.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: There is no requirement for residential aged-care facilities—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —to contact any state jurisdiction in relation—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Minister, sit down. The Hon. Ms Bourke, you have the call.