COVID-19 Health Advice

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (15:23): I am stunned by how brief that was. I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Health and Wellbeing regarding COVID-19.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: In April 2020, the government published a statement under the title 'Trust sa.gov.au for COVID-19 information'. It went on to say:

To keep everyone connected and informed, a statewide public information campaign has launched to promote sa.gov.au as the government's central point of COVID-19 information for the community.

Headlined 'We stand united apart', the campaign features on radio, TV, online and in newspapers and outdoor media, highlighting the state government's commitment to keep South Australians safe and strong. It states:

To coincide with the campaign, the SA.GOV.AU website has been upgraded.

For a local, reliable source of information, visit SA.GOV.AU

To those who clicked on the sa.gov.au link, they were taken to www.covid-19.sa.gov.au. At least nine pages of the covid-19.sa.gov.au web page had hyperlinks, some with more hyperlinks on that same page that diverted people via a Liberal Party website that is used for data harvesting. These pages provided details to people who were looking for information about vaccines, the coronavirus hotline and the government's efforts to recruit more health professionals, amongst many other topics. My questions to the minister are:

1. Did the so-called upgrades that were on the public health information website include adding hyperlinks that diverted members of the public via the Liberal Party website that is designed for data harvesting?

2. Exactly what health advice did the minister rely on when choosing to divert people via a Liberal Party website that is designed for data harvesting?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:26): The honourable member is referring to a website of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, and the minister for public sector has already addressed those issues.