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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-09-24 Daily Xml
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Question Time

Aged Care CCTV Steering Committee

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:31): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. What is the minister's response to the serious concerns and allegations raised by Mr Stewart Johnston about the CCTV steering committee that led to his resignation this week, and has the minister discussed with Mr Stewart Johnston concerns that the health department is a 'bureaucratic sewer' with 'blatant nepotism, self-serving, snouts in the trough corruption'?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:31): I thank the honourable member for the question. The Oakden saga, which left many South Australians vulnerable to harm, was a stain on the history of this state. The Marshall Liberal government is absolutely committed to providing the right protections for people in aged care and our support for a pilot CCTV surveillance program remains resolute. I appreciate that Mr Johnson is disappointed with the progress of the steering committee and has chosen to resign. The government is continuing to work with Care Protect, our preferred—

The Hon. K.J. Maher: 'Care Protect, our preferred technology partner, to operationalise'—

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Issues have arisen on a range of technical and security issues. We will continue—

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Point of order, Mr President: the honourable member is not contributing anything new to the debate and merely reading from a prepared media statement.

The PRESIDENT: I haven't seen the media statement—

The Hon. K.J. Maher: It's already on the public record.

The PRESIDENT: —but the point is well made. Minister, if you are reading from a media release, it is not appropriate.

The Hon. K.J. Maher: I am reading out exactly what's printed in the media.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Be assured, I am not reading from a media—

The PRESIDENT: I haven't got it. I have upheld your point of order—rarely—and I have warned the minister that he can't just read out a media statement.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I make the point, I have referred to Mr Stewart Johnston and his disappointment. That is well recognised. I regret his resignation, but respect it. The fact of the matter is that this government, through steering committees that engage the community and elsewhere, needs to diligently go through processes to make sure that the security requirements, the technical and security issues are resolved so that we protect our most vulnerable. First and foremost, the CCTV pilot must guarantee the privacy of our residents and the security of data.

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