Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-05-30 Daily Xml

Contents

SA Health

The Hon. S.L. GAME (15:27): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing my question to the Attorney-General, representing the Minister for Health and Wellbeing, on the findings of an investigation into SA Health.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.L. GAME: The ICAC commissioner in his 2019 report, Troubling Ambiguity: Governance in SA Health, found a professional culture that enables corruption in which misconduct and unmitigated conflicts of interest are commonplace and private interest is placed ahead of public interest. My questions to the Attorney-General, representing the minister, are:

1. In the absence of a follow-up ICAC investigation into SA Health, what evidence can the Minister for Health and Wellbeing provide to assure the public that the issues identified in the 2019 ICAC investigation into SA Health have been fixed?

2. Will the minister commission a second ICAC investigation into SA Health's problems with management of records, conflict of interest, clinical trials, special purpose funds and procurement?

3. Does the minister believe that South Australians get value for money when senior public servants in SA Health receive $400,000-plus salaries but cannot deliver pillows, clean bed linen and bandages for patient use in hospitals?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:28): I thank the honourable member for her question and her interest in this area and I will refer that question to the Minister for Health in another place and bring back a reply.