COVID Care Centres

The Hon. C. BONAROS (15:11): Supplementary: have staff been allocated to or assigned to these new centres?

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The minister has the call. The Hon. Mr Wortley ought not to make remarks like that.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The leader is out of order!

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:12): The part of the COVID response that deals with the COVID care centres, on my understanding, is that it's part of the COVID response cohort.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Minister, resume your seat.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The opposition has asked some supplementaries, the Hon. Ms Bonaros has asked a supplementary and the rest of the chamber would like to hear the answer. The minister has the call.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I thank the honourable member for her supplementary question. My understanding is that the staffing for that particular facility would be out of the COVID response, which is around 350 extra staff in terms of doctors, nurses, allied health workers and general support staff. The conundrum I face of course is that it's hard to know whether it might actually be part of the 1,200—

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: If the Leader of the Opposition listened, he might learn something—

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —nurses that we are recruiting, more than double the annual intake of graduate nurses.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: —and the Opposition Whip. Order!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: It could be another part of the 370 nurses that we are recruiting across our local metropolitan health network.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Has the minister concluded his remarks? No? Well, then continue.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: This is the conundrum I face: when the government is recruiting up to 1,920 health professionals to deliver health services—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —it could be out of our local health network recruitment, it could be out of our 1,200 graduate nurses—

The PRESIDENT: The minister will resume his seat.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —or it could be part of our COVID response.

The PRESIDENT: The minister will resume his seat. The Hon. Mr Simms has the call.