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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-09-27 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

Ambulance Ramping

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (15:07): Remember when those opposite shamelessly and deliberately claimed that South Australians should vote for them like their life depended on it? What do they have to say now to those families of those loved ones who have been left in the cold and tragically let down? What do they have to say to the voters in South Australia who supported them solely on their promise that they would fix ramping? It is clear that, based on the figures released this week, nothing has been fixed and that South Australians are actually at much greater risk under those opposite.

We now know the true extent of the Labor government's failure—17,292. That is how many hours our South Australian patients and paramedics have spent on the ramp in Labor's first six months, and that is the equivalent of two entire years. Has there ever been a much more profound example of overpromising and underdelivering? Under this government and under the leadership of the member for Croydon, ramping is the worst that it has ever been—the worst that it has ever been—and it is showing no signs of slowing down. It is not worse by just a little bit, but by 150 per cent. What a shameful record for a government that was elected on its promise to fix health.

Labor promised the people of South Australia they would fix ramping. 'Your life depends on it,' they said, 'and when your loved one needs an ambulance it might not get there. So vote for us like your life depends on it'. But their six-month report card is in, and it falls drastically short of the mark. I would say that this represents the most significant breach of trust with the voters of South Australia that this state has ever seen.

There was no doubt about it, no fine print that those opposite are trying to reinvent, no time frame, no ifs or buts about it. You could not drive up any main road in the city or the country without seeing this commitment. It was up in spotlights. It was particularly unpleasant, and it was a scare campaign designed to terrify people. Day after day after day we had ramping stats and case studies that were handfed to the media. The leader of the Labor Party, the member for Croydon, and his team exploited them at every opportunity.

But now that the election is over, it is radio silence. Poof, poof, poof—it has all gone! News of ramping has seemingly been turned off like a tap. But South Australians who voted for the Labor Party on the basis of their claims about ramping still want to know what is happening in their hospitals. What does the minister say when we dare question the progress that they have made on their central and only promise in health? Criticism from the cheap seats; it is criticism from the cheap seats. Having presided over the worst ramping stats in South Australia's history, that is what the minister thinks of his critics. What arrogance. That is the hallmark of this government.

The truth is that this government cannot stand scrutiny and it never has been able to. It cannot stand being up-front and honest with the people of South Australia. There is simply no denying that when we left government there was so much more to do in health, so much more to do, but we were always up-front and honest with the people of South Australia about the challenges that we faced as that COVID tsunami washed over South Australia.

It has been reported this week, and we have touched on it already in question time, that the Minister for Health has repeatedly declined to say if ramping would be fixed by the next election in 2026. First they said they would fix it, then after the election they claimed that they would fix it in four years, and now the minister cannot even commit to this commitment. This is six months in.

South Australians voted for a government on the basis that they promised to fix ramping, but guess what they got? They got a government full of mealy-mouthed excuses and they are failing the people of South Australia. They know very well how to run a scare campaign, but they seem incapable of delivering for the people of South Australia and we will keep holding them to account.

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