COVID-19 Publicity

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (14:40): 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. E.S. BOURKE: The Plains Producer reported today:

Last week news broke that the Port Wakefield OTR [On The Run] truck stop was announced as a COVID-19 exposure site. Disappointingly, the Plains Producer—

which I will note to assist the minister is the local newspaper—

had to chase down the facts to share with the community after the news had already made city morning headlines. The Plains Producer outsells The Advertiser 10 to 1, which shows our community relies on the news, especially for those not connected to the internet.

It also stated:

Vaccines announced for young regional people made the front page of The Advertiser in June. The Plains Producer received the official word the following day at 11 am. When the minister's advisers were questioned, he unapologetically said 'they could guarantee front page coverage [in metropolitan Adelaide].

Our emailed questions continually go unanswered for more than 24 hours, sometimes a week. When the responses arrive, it is often a short blanket statement, with a string of original questions still unanswered. The part that stings is communities, our regions, miss out on the facts that matter to them. It is poor form, especially as we are requested to accommodate the ministers who visit our regions at the drop of a hat.

My questions to the minister are:

1. After telling this place yesterday that you were not aware of whether anyone in your office was restricted in their duties due to allegations of bullying or misconduct, how do you respond to today's revelations that your staff ignore the safety of people living in our regional areas just so the government gets a metro headline?

2. Why is SA Health and the minister's office ignoring South Australia and treating regional media like fourth-class citizens instead of the fourth estate?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:42): I thank the honourable member for her question. The challenges in the pandemic in terms of getting the message out are significant and we try to use every avenue possible. I, too, share the honourable member's view on regional media, both printed and online. For example, I was speaking to rural journalists in Naracoorte last week—one is an online service and one is a print journal. Country people continue to rely heavily on the regional media network for news, and I certainly agree with the honourable member that we need to continue to strive to use every available avenue to get the message out.

I would urge for patience in the sense that, in the context of a rapidly evolving situation, not every opportunity is identified as early as we would like it to be, but I assure members that we are very grateful for the support of the partnership we have with regional media, because they are partners in helping us keep rural and regional South Australia safe. As we saw with the recent spate of truck drivers, the reach of truck drivers is extremely broad. We had close contacts from as far afield as Ceduna right down to the South-East—hundreds of contacts.

There is a lot of work to be done. Certainly, we will continue to strive to do better and we will continue to strive to do better in terms of communications too.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Ms Bourke, a supplementary.