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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-10-16 Daily Xml
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Emergency Department Closures

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (14:27): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. How many emergency departments across South Australia have experienced unplanned closures over the last 12 months and, if so, does the minister find that acceptable?

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:27): I am very happy to provide information in terms of some unplanned closures that happened to hospitals such as Gumeracha, that happened to hospitals such as Strathalbyn, that closed under the former Marshall Liberal government. These were hospitals where the emergency departments were closed by the previous Liberal government—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: Yes, only the South Australian Liberal government would think, when you are facing an international pandemic, that that's a good time to be closing emergency departments.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: 'Now is the time. We don't need those emergency departments anymore.'

Members interjecting:

Mr TEAGUE: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: Members on my right will come to order! I can't hear the point of order.

Mr TEAGUE: The question is very clear as to time period. The minister has departed entirely from that and chosen to debate another matter entirely different. The question was about the last 12 months, and the minister needs to answer the question.

The SPEAKER: The minister only just started answering. They have four minutes to answer the question. The minister can answer the question in the way he sees fit. He's got four minutes and, if he wants to give a bit of background, he's entitled to do that. The minister.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: I think it is important to look at these emergency departments, where we have seen some permanent closures take place. That is in stark contrast to Angaston, where we are committed to keeping that emergency department open, and we have been staffing that emergency department. What we have seen today is the shadow minister politicising this issue.

There was a doctor scheduled to work at the emergency department yesterday—a very small emergency department, 10 patients a day—who had a heart attack, had to go to hospital and is still in hospital right now. We send our best wishes and regards to that doctor, who unfortunately has had to be admitted to the Lyell McEwin Hospital. We hope that they have a speedy recovery. It is unfortunate that the local member, the shadow minister, rather than trying to proactively work to try to address this issue, is making political points out of this issue when we saw the closure of the Gumeracha hospital when she was the chief spin doctor for former Premier Steven Marshall.

Mr TEAGUE: Point of order.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morphett can leave—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morphett can leave until the end of question time. I was calling you to order, and you were still yelling out. You can leave until the end of question time. Member for Flinders, you are very close to leaving as well.

The honourable member for Morphett having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader on a point of order.

Mr TEAGUE: I raise a point of order on standing order 98(a). The minister is now clearly directing comments about a role that the—

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader can sit down. You can't take a point of order when the person that you are talking about, sitting next to you, is breaching the standing orders by interjecting. It is against the standing orders to interject. If the minister was responding to an interjection, which I believe he was—he would have nothing to do if the interjection had not happened in the first place. Back to the Minister for Health.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: I hope that the shadow minister is able to go to the Gumeracha community and advise what she was doing in the former Liberal government at the time that emergency department was closed.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: That's right. What was her role? I hope she is able to explain that to the community, because those emergency departments have closed. The Liberal Party were the ones who did it. We have a very different view. We certainly will not be closing the Angaston emergency department: we are working to make sure that service can be retained for the community.

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