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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-10-16 Daily Xml
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KordaMentha

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (15:05): My question is to the Premier. Why is your government this year giving interstate corporate liquidators KordaMentha over $20 million, but ICAC only $14.5 million, and denying the ICAC commissioner's request for additional resources to investigate SA Health corruption and maladministration?

The SPEAKER: Member for Kaurna, I am going to give you one opportunity to rephrase the back end of that question, which contains characterisation. I will allow you to rephrase; if not, I will sit you down and ask someone else to ask a question.

Mr PICTON: Thank you, sir. My question is to the Premier. Why is the government giving KordaMentha over $20 million but only giving the ICAC commissioner $14.5 million?

The SPEAKER: That question is in order. Premier.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (15:05): Of course, the ICAC commissioner and the awarding of a contract to KordaMentha are completely separate exercises. ICAC has a range of statutory obligations, and they are provided with a budget each year and they determine how that budget is spent. I make the point again that the budget going to the ICAC has increased and there was an additional $14 million put into the budget this very year. With regard to KordaMentha, we acted swiftly to appoint KordaMentha because of the bleed. I think in a previous answer—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —I said it was over budget by more than $5 million a day.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: In fact, it was $5 million per week. The point remains that CALHN was completely and utterly out of whack in terms of its obligations under the budget, so KordaMentha were awarded a contract which was focused on delivering better outcomes for the Central Adelaide Local Health Network. Two hundred days into that contract, I am pleased to report to the house that they are above their KPI savings target.

They are above that because they have been able to identify a whole pile of hopeless practices presided over by the previous government on that side. One very obvious example was the huge amount of activity occurring at the new Royal Adelaide Hospital that was not being processed and ultimately not being passed through to the commonwealth. Tens and tens and tens of millions of dollars were being—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Education is warned.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee, be quiet.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —missed out on into the system in South Australia because of the hopeless administration of previous governments. On that site, there was a massive blowout in the capital costs for the new Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Minister for Education!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Clinicians were not listened to with regard to the design of that hospital. There were a huge number of defects we have had to work systematically through to fix that hospital, including the lack of the psychiatric intensive care unit beds, which only opened this year, despite the first patients coming in several years ago. Every aspect of the previous government's administration in terms of health was absolutely shameful. The people of South Australia know it.

Mr Malinauskas: So why has ramping doubled since you've been in power?

The SPEAKER: Order, leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: They can ask as many questions as they like about health in this house because we look forward—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: Why has ramping doubled?

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —to presenting to this house and to the people of South Australia the recovery plan that we put in place. We don't apologise to the people of South Australia for appointing KordaMentha. We had to take urgent, corrective action to fix the mess that we inherited from those opposite.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: It is a very significant investment that we have made into the system, but it was necessary to stop the bleed at that hospital and to do everything we could to make sure that we could return that hospital to being the very best it can be for the people of our state.

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