Legislative Council Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1) 54 1 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Question Time Question Time Hospital Beds Hospital Beds The Hon. K.J. MAHER Legislative Council Leader of the Opposition Hospital Beds The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:27): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Health and Wellbeing regarding hospitals. Leave granted. The Hon. K.J. MAHER Legislative Council The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Last Friday, the Marshall-Lucas Liberal government announced they would be closing 60 hospital beds, despite dangerous ambulance ramping being at an all-time high. Three years ago, the now health minister issued a media release, dated 7 September 2016, in which he said that the government should put: …bed closures on hold and provide independently verified, publicly available data that the beds are no longer needed. My questions to the minister are: does the minister have the independently verified, publicly available data that these beds are no longer needed, as he said in the past was so important; will the minister make that data publicly available, as he thinks it is so important to do so; and did KordaMentha make and implement the recommendations to close these 60 beds? The Hon. S.G. WADE Legislative Council Minister for Health and Wellbeing The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:29): I thank the honourable member for his question, completely based on a misunderstanding. There are no beds closing: there are 60 beds that will be put on stand-by as surge capacity.