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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-03-21 Daily Xml
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Ambulance Ramping

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:32): My question is to the Premier. When will the government fix ramping? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: On 16 March 2022, Ambulance Employees Association Secretary, Leah Watkins, told the ABC that ramping could improve quickly after the election, including that a new government could, and I quote, 'start having an immediate effect within one or two months'.

The SPEAKER: The Premier.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:33): Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Premier, please be seated. Order! The volume of interjections to my left is considerable. There are also some interjections to my right. The member for Hammond will leave under 137A for the remainder of question time. The member for Chaffey will follow him, and very shortly after, if there are continued interjections, will be the member for Morialta.

The honourable member for Hammond having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: The Premier.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: Mr Speaker, have I got good news for the Leader of the Opposition because here we are, 12 months into a brand-new Labor government, and we have already substantially improved ambulance response times—already substantially improved them.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: I might remind the Leader of the Opposition and all those opposite, who seem to have their head in the sand on this issue—

Mr Cowdrey interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Colton!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —just like they did this time 12 months ago that, in January last year, for priority 2 cases we saw ambulance response times at 36 per cent. Well, I am pleased to report that in February this year we have taken it from 36 per cent to 53 per cent. We have got a long way to go—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —but the trajectory is the right one. On that critical measure of addressing ambulance response times to try to get it back to the levels—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hurtle Vale is called to order.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —that those butchered back at the beginning of 2018—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Badcoe is warned for a final time.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —we are seeing ambulance response times improve, and it's not just true for priority 2 cases but also priority 1 cases. So for the P1 cases—that is, the particularly acute life-threatening emergencies—in January last year, it was 47 per cent; and under the most recent figures in terms of February this year, it's now 63 per cent. Ambulance response times have improved very substantially in the space of 12 months.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: So here's what we know. The government changed and ambulance response times have improved. There are South Australians today who are calling 000 with ever-increasing degrees of confidence knowing that already after 12 months in office we have improved ambulance response times. Those opposite can spend all the time they like—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —traversing the transcripts, looking at old video footage—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —looking at the leaders' debates that occurred—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members to my left!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —throughout the course of the election campaign. I encourage them to do it because what they will see—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —is a consistent commitment on behalf of the South Australian Labor Party that we are committed to reducing ambulance ramping so that we can see ambulances rolling up on time—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —and that is already what we are proud to have delivered throughout the course of our first 12 months.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Unley!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert is warned.

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