SA Health

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (15:02): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Why can the minister afford $0.5 million for more spin doctors when he can't afford an extra $2 million for ICAC to investigate corruption and maladministration in SA Health?

The Hon. C.M. Scriven: Good question.

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:02): Well, the honourable Leader of the Opposition suggests that's a good question. That would show that she wants to associate with yet another day of embarrassing mistruths from the shadow health minister. Today, the shadow has been out talking about Liberal spin doctor increases, allegedly. First of all, let me stop and reflect. The people we are talking about are not ministerial office staff. They are people engaged in the department as communication specialists. They are—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Allow the minister to answer.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: They have worked for governments of both political parties, both political persuasions. Apparently, before March 2018, they were valued members of the Labor team. Now they are open game for smears. This is the normal modus operandi of the opposition under the Leader of the Opposition and his shadow minister.

It is rather galling that they should be calling Health public servants spin doctors because they were, let me remind you, the last of a conga line of health ministers and shadow health ministers. Mr Picton and Mr Malinauskas might like to smear the people they left behind, but we, on the other hand, treat them with more respect.

So let me unpack the figures for you. Labor is comparing apples with oranges. They are comparing budgeted figures with actual figures. So let's look at the real figures. Under the budgeted figures in 2018-19, there were 46.5 communication specialists in the department. In 2019-20, it's 45.6 so, comparing apples with apples, there has actually been a reduction. I know that the Labor Party struggles with reading budget papers; they struggle even more actually applying budget papers.

But let me now take the Labor Party on the next step. The next step is called 'actuals'. So there is 'budgeted', they are the apples, and there are 'actuals', they are the oranges. Let me take you to the oranges. The Labor Party doesn't appreciate it but we budgeted in 2018-19 for 46.5 FTEs, and I am sorry, Treasurer, we only employed 41.1. So that's more than five FTEs below the budget. I know the Treasurer wants us to meet targets but I must admit that expenditure target is one that he would—

The Hon. I.K. Hunter interjecting:

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I have just told you the actuals for last year. I have just told you.

The PRESIDENT: It's not a conversation, minister. Deliver your answer.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: The truth of the matter is that under the Marshall Liberal government the communications staff has actually decreased by 10 per cent this year alone. Labor's credibility gets thinner and thinner by the lie. Unlike the former Labor government, which loved to have a PR machine trying to sell a dog called Transforming Health—they had mass mail-outs, they had shopping centre promotions, they had online advertising. What really cursed me is that even after the election they must have still been paying for these wretched Transforming Health ads because they kept popping up on my feed.

But anyway, then we had the shameful expenditure of—I think the figure was $100,000—$100,000 paid to the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation to promote Transforming Health. So don't talk to me about communications. We are not going to spend money on political campaigns. We are determined to drive better value for money for taxpayers' expenditure.

Let me tell you about some of the valuable work being done by these public servants. They do incredibly important work in providing information to the community and I want to highlight two of their campaigns. They had a very successful flu campaign this year and a very successful demand management ED campaign. The Flu Stops With You awareness campaign was developed in response to the high number of flu cases in South Australia in 2019, providing the community with information to help stop the spread of flu and other infections throughout the winter period.

The campaign achieved its objective of encouraging the community to change their behaviour to stop the spread of flu. The ads had an exceptionally high reach, with 65 per cent of all South Australians seeing at least one of the ads. The Treasurer, of course, is saying, 'What about the impact?' It's all well and good to see the ads but has it had an impact? Actually 80 per cent of those who said they saw the ad—

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: Point of order, sir.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Hanson, a point of order. Minister, I have a point of order at the back of the room.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: You can't hear me?

The PRESIDENT: I can't hear.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: The minister needed some air. But also a point of order, Mr President: what I asked was in relation to why he can't afford the extra $2 million for ICAC to investigate maladministration and corruption. I am hearing a lot about what he can afford. I would just like him to get back to the other 50 per cent of the equation of the question.

The PRESIDENT: Minister, keep to the point.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I was directly on the point. The point was: how can I find more money for communications and not more money for ICAC? Two points. I don't pay ICAC; that's a matter for the Treasurer and the Attorney-General. The second point is: I am actually spending less money, not more.

The PRESIDENT: A supplementary, the Hon. Mr Hanson.