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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-03-06 Daily Xml
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Health Funding

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (15:35): I rise to speak on a matter of interest—at least it certainly is a matter of interest to honourable members opposite, especially these days to the members of the opposition in another place. But, first, do you remember the then Premier of New South Wales, Dom Perrottet? He was quite obsessed with Adelaide. I do not know if the bloke has ever been here. Perhaps members opposite could assist me in that regard.

It was not an unusual pastime for the Eastern States to bag Adelaide, but Dom Perrottet made it his whole personality. The digital driving licence being developed in South Australia was declared by Dom to be pretty poor 'like most things in Adelaide', and, 'Nobody wants to go and live in Adelaide, that's just the reality,' said Dom. A five-day washed-out test he saw as some sort of great result for the east coast, because it meant that it was still better than having to spend five days in Adelaide, according to Dom.

He was doing this not because it was particularly funny but because he thought it would make him relatable, likeable, maybe even popular. But, like the school bully who really craves attention but has no real idea how to get it, Perrottet hoped this weird piling on would endear him to people. Perhaps he recognised that there was not much else to recommend him. The people of New South Wales confirmed that when they turfed him out after only about 18 months as Premier.

I doubt that many people recall him with a great deal of fondness. I certainly do not. They say that you criticise in others what you hate most about yourself, which makes sense in this case because Dom Perrottet was actually really boring. It was not Adelaide: it was Dom. Why am I bringing all this up, Mr President? I am glad that you asked. I want to remind you of something.

In the first two years in power, the Steven Marshall Liberal government cut ambulance funding by $13 million, making us the only state in the nation to cut ambulance funding. In their first three years, they made 339 doctors, nurses, scientists and other health staff redundant, including more than 100 nurses—that was during the COVID-19 pandemic. They cut $5 million from the RAH and The QEH mental health services.

With South Australia's health system in crisis, the plan they took to the South Australian people was a $662 million basketball stadium. Do you remember that? I do. That was the Liberal Party's priority, the showpiece of their election campaign: the audacity of proposing to blow hundreds of millions of dollars on something that was really quite unnecessary at a time when people were crying out for money to be spent on health.

The Malinauskas government was elected with a mandate from our community to build and improve key infrastructure across the state to deliver capacity in our health system and keep our community safe. Let me briefly take you through what the government has done so far. By the end of this year, we will have delivered more than 150 new hospital beds. We have already recruited more than 550 clinical staff, including nearly 100 doctors and more than 270 nurses, with even more due to come online later this year. We have 17 more ambulances on the road and have 171 more ambos already in the community, with 87 more to come online this year across the state.

Ambulance response times have turned around dramatically since 2022, and we have all three 24/7 pharmacies now up and running, just like we promised. In contrast, the Steven Marshall government did nothing. They did nothing to fix ramping. They had no plan. They had no policies to address the ramping and hospital system capacity.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: I will get there. I can hear members opposite getting all pent up. They are very worried about something. The current Liberal opposition—as we can hear—

An honourable member interjecting:

The ACTING PRESIDENT (The Hon. T.A. Franks): Order!

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: —still has no plan and no policies to address ramping and hospital system capacity, so when they criticise the Malinauskas Labor government for failing, after two years in government, to fix ramping, there is a real whiff of Dom Perrottet about it. Just like old mate Dom, apart from talking us down they have nothing to offer the electorate.

I can tell you this for certain: they have absolutely no idea about how to fix ramping. In fact, the Leader of the Opposition in the other place even admitted on radio, 'Ramping gives us a significant political opportunity.' The Liberals want the next election to be a referendum on ramping, but if they are not careful it will be a referendum on credibility, and I do not think they are giving South Australians enough credit.

Time expired.

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