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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-02-03 Daily Xml
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HEATWAVE DEATHS

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:27): Will the Minister for Health now apologise for his public statement on Saturday 31 January, regarding the sudden death of people in Adelaide during the recent heatwave, in which he said that probably for people who were very ill the heat may have brought it forward, but that it was going to happen anyway.

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (15:27): The Deputy Leader of the Opposition trawls very low from time to time. This is another one of her low acts. I do not have in front of me the quotes that I gave to the media. I assume she is talking about the article that was on the front page of The Advertiser on Saturday morning. That report came from a conversation I had with both the journalist who wrote the story and the editor of the paper who talked to me about the number of deaths. They were asking whether or not these were heat-related deaths. I went through what I knew because, as I said, when the ambulance officers collected the bodies they, of course, were not able to determine the cause of death. That was properly within the province of the Coroner. As the Attorney-General said, the Coroner has already begun investigations and, indeed, as I understand it, has contacted the health department. I understand that he is looking to see if there is a connection between some of the deaths.

In my conversations with the journalist and the editor, I said that the number of deaths the Ambulance Service normally picks up on a day is three to five, or in that order. Over the Thursday and Friday at that stage—Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (I cannot recall)—there had been a much higher number of deaths. We did not know what the cause of deaths was. However, speculation—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. J.D. HILL: You asked the question and I am trying to give you the information.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: If you just listen you will hear what I said. I said one can only speculate as to the cause of death but there is likely—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader will come to order.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: —to be a couple of types of persons who will have succumbed to the heat in these circumstances. There was a range of people who died which had nothing to do with the heat: there was a car accident and a variety of other things. I said there were two possible types of deaths that will have occurred: one will have been elderly people who will have died as a result of dehydration or as a result of confusion, perhaps caused by having dementia or being in the early stages of dementia and not fully appreciating how hot it was and not properly hydrating themselves. Since that time we have heard of at least a couple of deaths where elderly people have become confused and have not been able to properly use their air conditioning units. In fact, tragically, I have heard of at least one case where a person switched the air conditioner to heat rather than cool and presumably fell asleep and then died. So there is that class of persons who will die—those whose deaths can be directly related to the heat.

Then there is the second class of people, that is, those who were very ill and in end-of-life, anyway, and who had vulnerable systems, and the heat itself could have caused that death to be brought forward. That was a purely factual description of what may have happened. As I said to them, this is purely speculative because the Coroner would have to go through the causes, but they are the likely kinds of things that will have occurred.

I am further advised by the Attorney that the State Coroner has refused to be drawn on whether he will stage a mass inquest into an estimated 57 sudden deaths during this month's heat wave.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader is warned.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: In a statement released today, Coroner Mark Johns says it is 'not possible to determine how many people died from heat-related causes until further inquiries have been carried out'. He also declines to speak further on the matter, saying he will:

...not be granting any interviews. The Coroner's Court routinely holds model or subject inquests when it is believed persons are linked by a common cause of death. These have included inquiries into petrol sniffing and the like.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Deputy Premier.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Mr Speaker, I think the Deputy Leader of the Opposition's shouting across the word 'gutless' to government ministers is not dignified language in this place, and I ask her to apologise and withdraw.

The SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order. However, I do point out to the deputy leader—

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I do point out to the deputy leader she has been warned, and I would hate to have to name her. The Minister for Health.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: I will try to conclude, Mr Speaker, but I am offended by the tone of the question by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. I am very disappointed that she, as a senior officer in her party and the opposition and an officer of this parliament, would seek to make political capital out of the tragic death of a number of South Australians over what was a terrible period of time.

As the Minister for Health, I put on the record my great compliments to the officers of the health service—the ambulance officers, emergency department officers, doctors and nurses, and so on—who worked very hard to look after a range of people who were affected by the heat, and those who had to collect the bodies of those who had died. It is hard and difficult work and must be very stressful. Obviously, any death is a tragedy to the family from whom that person is taken, and I can assure the house and the public that the sympathies of the government are extended to those families.

I must say, interestingly, that when I was speaking to the journalist at The Advertiser he quoted to me a statement made by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition who said something very similar. She said, 'It is a tragedy and our sympathies go to the families of those who are lost, and we advise people to look after their elderly neighbours,' and she made substantially the same sort of comment in her statement that I had made. I said that I congratulate the Deputy Leader of the Opposition on being non-political about this and providing bipartisan support for the approach the government was taking—

The Hon. J.W. Weatherill interjecting:

The Hon. J.D. HILL: —but, as my colleague says, she just cannot resist going that extra inch. I suggest she goes back to being sensible about dealing with this issue, being respectful for those who have lost their lives and the families who have lost their loved ones, and understand that extensive heat has caused difficulties for a range of people, some of whom have succumbed. What I was trying to do was explain the nature of the circumstances which may have meant that a certain group of people died. Certainly, I was not insulting or attempting to demean any of those persons, as any sensible person would realise.

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