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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-05-13 Daily Xml
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State Budget

The Hon. C. BONAROS (15:14): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Treasurer a question about the budget.

Leave granted.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: Yesterday, the Treasurer advised the council of the near $1 billion unexpected windfall the state government will receive from the federal government in GST payments that it hadn't budgeted for and that windfall, the Treasurer said, would be used to help reduce the government's huge deficit. My questions to the Treasurer are:

1. Will any of the money be directed towards replacing $11 million in outdated medical equipment at the Women's and Children's Hospital?

2. Will any of the money be directed towards addressing the worsening ambulance ramping above what the government has committed to in its recent EB negotiations with the ambulance union?

3. Will any of the money be directed towards addressing the mental health crisis crippling our public health system over and above what has already been committed to?

4. Will any of the money be committed towards the four priority care centres across Adelaide to allow them to extend their opening times beyond 8pm to ensure a person presenting with a mental health episode outside those hours can get the care they require?

I qualify all those questions by stating that they are over and above what has already been committed and in light of the windfall that the Treasurer has pointed to.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (15:16): I'm sure it won't surprise the Hon. Ms Bonaros that, given she isn't currently a member of the cabinet, I'm not going to discuss with the Hon. Ms Bonaros, before we finalise decisions as the cabinet, as to what will be in the budget on 22 June, as much as I would love to have a discussion with the Hon. Ms Bonaros and take her into my confidence about all the details that we are working through in relation to the budget.

What I can say in relation to budget considerations is that my colleague the Minister for Health and myself and others are actively engaged in how we can continue to improve the health system, in particular to meet the ongoing challenges that we have both within our hospitals and also, as he has outlined, in terms of the many initiatives he has already initiated and the many initiatives he would like to initiate in relation to tackling the mental health issues that confront our health system.

We are now better informed, although we don't have all the details, of the new commitments in terms of mental health funding from the commonwealth government from the federal budget. We have commenced discussions with the federal government and their officers in relation to what they have in mind in relation to mental health funding, but I'm sure the Hon. Ms Bonaros will be as excited as I will be as Treasurer when we release the details of the 22 June budget at the range of responses that the government will have, not just in the health area but in education, housing and right across the board.

I indicate that I have certainly not indicated that any additional funding that the government has received will be solely devoted towards the reduction of the state's deficit. We will continue to have a $4 billion economic stimulus package. We will continue to have a significantly increased debt level, as all other state and territory governments are confronting as a result of COVID-19, with the exception of Western Australia, and we will continue to try to address the many pressing needs in terms of health and education spending right across the board.

I can't do much more than reveal broadly the general shape and tenor of the budget preparations, much as the member would like. I would love to take her into our confidence, but I'm not prepared to do so.

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