Legislative Council Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2) 54 2 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Question Time Regional Aged-Care Facilities Regional Aged-Care Facilities The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN Legislative Council Regional Aged-Care Facilities The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (14:55): Supplementary arising from the original answer, where the minister referred to hospitals, aged care and air conditioning: when will air-conditioning systems, where there are aged care and hospitals co-located and they share those air-conditioning systems, be separated so that there will not be closures of hospital services, such as occurred in Kapunda hospital recently? The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: No—you have asked your question. The Hon. S.G. WADE Legislative Council Minister for Health and Wellbeing The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:56): I think the honourable member has a fairly naive view of what it takes to maintain infection control safety between an aged-care facility and a hospital. It is not merely a matter of air conditioning. It is also a matter of all the processes within the facility. In terms of the commitment to upgrading the facilities at country hospitals, I would make the point that this government is investing $150 million over 10 years to deal with the chaotic backlog of capital works— Members interjecting: The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. S.G. WADE Legislative Council The Hon. S.G. WADE: —which the former Labor government left in relation to regional services. And that, to be blunt— Members interjecting: The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. S.G. WADE Legislative Council The Hon. S.G. WADE: —$150 million only relates to hospital-related services, not aged-care services, so the honourable member gives me the opportunity of highlighting— Members interjecting: The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. S.G. WADE Legislative Council The Hon. S.G. WADE: —that in addition to that $150 million backlog in hospitals we have— Members interjecting: The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. S.G. WADE Legislative Council The Hon. S.G. WADE: —tens and tens of millions of dollars of backlog in capital works in aged care. It also does give me— Members interjecting: The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: The Leader of the Opposition! The Hon. S.G. WADE Legislative Council The Hon. S.G. WADE: It does also give me the opportunity to highlight another exciting initiative, a partnership with the Morrison Liberal government in relation to the very facility we are talking about. The Snowtown aged-care facility has recently put an application in for an MPS capital works investment; in other words, a multipurpose service capital works investment. It has been decades— Members interjecting: The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. S.G. WADE Legislative Council The Hon. S.G. WADE: —since the commonwealth government invested capital works in multipurpose services. It certainly wasn't available under former Labor governments at the federal level. It is being delivered by the Morrison Liberal government— Members interjecting: The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. S.G. WADE Legislative Council The Hon. S.G. WADE: —and we, in partnership, are very keen to continue to build residential aged-care facilities and other aged accommodation in regional South Australia.