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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-09-18 Daily Xml
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Question Time

Hospital Overcrowding

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:10): Mr Speaker, congratulations on your recent marriage.

The SPEAKER: Thank you, sir.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier himself meet with the state's Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation after it today called for an immediate crisis meeting as:

Nursing staff have reached crisis point over the government's failure to address hospital overcrowding six months after the election.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:11): Thank you—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my right!

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hammond is called to order. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Thank you very much, sir, and I, too, would like to offer my congratulations to you on your recent marriage.

The SPEAKER: Thank you, sir.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: As they say, the honeymoon is over and it's good to have you back in the chair, sir, so welcome back and congratulations.

The SPEAKER: Thank you.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The question from the Leader of the Opposition is whether I will meet with the union on this matter. I will consult with the Minister for Health on this matter. It has only just been brought to my attention. Of course, the Leader of the Opposition is quite right in identifying that there is real concern around our hospital system in South Australia, and the reason for that concern is the absolute shambles that this system was in when we came to power on 17 March.

It's interesting to note, of course, that the Leader of the Opposition himself would probably know more about the shambles of the health system than just about anybody else in this chamber and that is because, of course, he was the minister for health—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —right up until 17 March. He was the minister.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: He was the one who was responsible.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: He was the one who knew unequivocally—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —exactly how dire—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —the situation was, and the question that the people of South Australia really want answered is why he didn't come clean with the people of South Australia about the mess in the health system prior to the election. Now, sir—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: There is a point of order by the member for West Torrens.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The minister is debating the question.

The SPEAKER: The Premier has had a cacophony of noise that has come from my left, so it's a bit rich for members to claim debate. I will listen carefully. I believe the Premier was on a relevant tangent—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: —but I will be listening carefully to ensure that he sticks to the substance of the question.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Thank you very much, sir—

The SPEAKER: Before I call the Premier, I also call to order—

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —because the Leader of the Opposition was—

The SPEAKER: Premier, one moment. I must intervene, unfortunately. I call to order the leader and the member for Kaurna, and I remind the member for West Torrens that he has been called to order. The Premier will be heard in silence.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Thank you very much, sir. I'm glad that I'm going to be heard in silence because this is an important issue. The Leader of the Opposition raises a question in parliament today about the new government meeting with the nurses' union here in South Australia to hear their concerns about the state of the health system in South Australia and, of course, there are grave concerns about the state of the health system in South Australia.

Most people would have been very concerned that the former government didn't make it clear to the people of South Australia about the blowout in the Central Adelaide Local Health Network. According to those opposite, the new Royal Adelaide Hospital was just a fantastic new institution. They loved marvelling at the wide corridors and the fantastic—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: the question was about whether the Premier would meet with representatives. He is now debating the question.

The SPEAKER: Another point of order.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order: there was a very lengthy explanation, which gave wide scope for the Premier to talk about.

The SPEAKER: The minister will be seated. I have given the Premier some scope. I do respectfully ask the Premier to please return to the substance of the question.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The substance of the question, sir, of course was the state of the health system and the reason why the nurses' union—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —wanted to meet with the government. That was the question.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I'm listening. Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: That was the question. The question wasn't black and white; the question was detailing lots of comment from the Leader of the Opposition and I am addressing the specific content raised by the Leader of the Opposition in his question. He might choose to go to whoever is writing questions in future and get them tightened up a bit. Maybe because of some of the problems they have had with their questions lately, they're going to have a review—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir: the question was: will the Premier meet with the state's Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, sir.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I have the question. I believe that—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: He is now debating the question.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I believe the Premier is winding up, or has wound up. He's finished his answer?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: As I said, sir, I'll meet with the Minister for Health and determine what action we'll take.

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