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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-12-04 Daily Xml
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SA Health, ICAC Report

The Hon. C. BONAROS (14:35): Widely respected Centre for Economic Studies economist Darryl Gobbett was quoted on radio this morning, and I quote him verbatim—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. C. BONAROS: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question on the issue of SA Health—to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing.

The PRESIDENT: As long as it is generally SA Health—

The Hon. C. BONAROS: I will just start again—

The PRESIDENT: —if it's a specific—

The Hon. C. BONAROS: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Health and Wellbeing a question about SA Health.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: It's about process, these questions, really.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: Yes, I like process, Mr Ridgway.

The PRESIDENT: If it is about SA Health more generally, yes, but if it is a specific issue within SA Health you do owe the whole chamber the courtesy, because it's the chamber giving you leave.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: In relation to comments made by Mr Darryl Gobbett on radio this morning.

Leave granted.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: Widely respected Centre for Economic Studies economist Darryl Gobbett was quoted on radio this morning—and I will quote him verbatim to ensure accuracy:

Corruption in healthcare is estimated at 3-8% of healthcare spending in Europe and North America… Applying that to SA's public sector spend in 2019-20 of $6,888m—

in other words, $6.88 billion—

is a cost of corruption of $207m-$550m per annum…SA probably is at the higher end of this.

If that is true—and there's no reason to suspect otherwise after Commissioner Lander's scathing report—my question to the minister is: do you accept that Commissioner Lander's request for an additional $2 million so he can undertake the investigation he wants into SA Health is a drop in the ocean compared to the figures quoted by Mr Gobbett?

The PRESIDENT: Just before the minister answers, the Hon. Ms Bonaros, it is actually in breach of convention, I suppose under Erskine May, to ask someone whether certain press statements are accurate. To the extent the question does that, I am going to rule it out of order, but the remainder of the question is a matter for the minister to respond to.

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:37): I am certainly happy to respond to the substance of the honourable member's question. I have no doubt that corruption and maladministration are a gross waste of public resources. As I have said previously, every dollar that we waste in maladministration, inefficiency, corruption—whatever it will be—is a dollar that is not going to be available to deliver public health services to South Australians.

I just want to clarify, too, that the honourable ICAC commissioner—his report deals with maladministration and corruption. For example, over the last six years the commissioner has received 1,166 complaints or reports containing allegations of poor conduct and practices in SA Health and we are advised that, of those, 151 have been assessed as raising a potential issue of corruption in public administration. It is the government's determination to deal with maladministration and corruption that motivates the Treasurer and Attorney-General to make sure the ICAC has a standing budget which supports it to deliver its role.

But I think it is very important to stress that dealing with corruption and particularly maladministration is not the sole preserve of the ICAC. For example, one of the other statutory officers of this parliament, the Auditor-General, has a very strong role, and it is noteworthy that the ICAC commissioner repeatedly refers to work of the Auditor-General in South Australia. There is a lot of work done by other bodies as well. I have already mentioned KordaMentha.

I pay tribute to the hard work of non-frontbench and crossbench members of this chamber for the work that takes place in the committees of this place. I would remind this house that there are currently four parliamentary committees that are focused on health matters. To pay tribute to the honourable members who are members of (I will get the name wrong) the occupational health and safety workplace committee, whatever the term is, that parliamentary committee has a reference on bullying and fatigue in SA Health. Bullying in particular was an issue that the ICAC commissioner highlighted. I thank the honourable members on that committee who are undertaking that work.

I also pay tribute to the leadership of Dr Chris Moy, the President of the Australian Medical Association of South Australia, who has made it clear that, under his presidency, there will be a focus on bullying. I look forward to the leadership of not just the medical profession but all the health professions because it is often the internal leadership of health professions that can drive change that external demands cannot.

I would urge all professional associations and employee organisations to work with the government as we unpack the analysis of the ICAC commissioner. As I said, a lot of the issues are longstanding. The President of the AMA, Chris Moy, particularly highlighted that fact in the quote that I referred to earlier. Coming back to the honourable member's question, I have no doubt about the waste that is generated through both corruption and maladministration. That's why this government is so determined to deal with it, that's why we invested in KordaMentha and that's why we continue to fund independent bodies such as the Auditor-General and the ICAC commissioner.

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