Public Hospital Nurses

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (14:52): A supplementary arising from the original answer: can the minister confirm how many casual public hospital nurses were without pay, as was asked in the question?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:52): I don't know the answer to that, but I ask the member to reflect—

The Hon. C.M. Scriven: Will you take it on notice?

The Hon. S.G. WADE: No; I would ask the member to listen, for a start.

The PRESIDENT: Order! Minister.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I ask the member to reflect on what she is suggesting. Is she suggesting that we should be giving guarantees of full employment to casual staff? That's not something that a so-called Labor government ever thought was appropriate, so why does she suddenly think that the laws of economics and public finance have turned upside down? We will continue to work with all our workforce to support them—

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Leader of the Opposition!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —in this difficult time, but we need to appreciate that this is casual employment. We will continue to find work opportunities for them, but we are not guaranteeing future employment.