The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (17:07): I rise to support the motion and I intend, as has the Hon. Mr Maher, to address the terms of the motion that is before us. Why should members of this chamber support the motion to have the three ministers named appear before the committee? The simple answer to that…
DetailsAnother day of ramping at Flinders Medical Centre has confirmed yet again that the South Australian health system is out of control. “The situation this afternoon was as bad as many long-term observers have ever seen,” said Shadow Health Minister Rob Lucas. “Every public hospital in metropolitan Adelaide was significantly over capacity. The situation was…
DetailsThe Upper House Select Committee into Child Protection will meet for the first time today to organise its establishment and administration. A motion put forward by Family First to establish a Select Committee to investigate matters raised by the Debelle Inquiry passed Parliament’s Upper House last week. The Select Committee will consist of the Hon…
DetailsShadow Health Minister Rob Lucas today accused Premier Jay Weatherill of ‘gross hypocrisy’ in his claim of transparency and accountability in releasing details of all ministerial credit card expenses. Last week, Mr Weatherill announced all spending by ministers and their staff would be exposed to public scrutiny by regularly publishing credit card statements on the…
DetailsThe Hon. R.I. LUCAS (15:33): I want to talk about Labor in 3D—delusion, division and deception. After the federal election result on the weekend, Labor Party ministers and spin doctors have been doing the rounds seeking to portray the result in South Australia as in some way being a failure or a loss as a…
DetailsPremier Jay Weatherill ran a fear campaign during the federal election about claimed cuts under a Coalition Government. Just one day after this scare campaign finished, Mr Weatherill announced cuts to jobs and beds at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital and the closure of the Modbury Hospital paediatric ward. “It is the height of hypocrisy…
DetailsIn an extraordinary backflip, Health Minister Snelling is now offering Keith Hospital total grant funding of $1 million per year just three years after the Labor Government decided to cut funding by $370,000 per year. Shadow Health Minister Rob Lucas said the Labor Government’s handling of Keith Hospital’s funding had been an unmitigated disaster. “The…
DetailsShadow Minister for Health Rob Lucas said today that the new Royal Adelaide Hospital (NRAH) was like a ‘fiscal vacuum cleaner’, sucking virtually every last dollar out of the health budget to the detriment of other projects. “It is already apparent that the $400 million a year from 2016 just for the non-clinical costs of…
DetailsShadow Minister for Health, Rob Lucas, said today that another major financial scandal was brewing in SA Health over the $400 million plus EPAS (Enterprise Patient Administration System) IT project. It is now clear Minister Snelling is desperate to keep a ‘lid on’ this looming scandal until after the March 2014 election. Mr Snelling was…
DetailsShadow Minister for Health, Rob Lucas, said today that Minister Snelling and SA Health can no longer afford to ignore scathing criticism by doctors of their decision making and lack of consultation over planning and design issues at the NRAH. Evidence from SASMOA and the AMA to the Legislative Council Budget and Finance Committee today…
DetailsThe Weatherill Labor Government is closing Millicent Hospital’s obstetric unit despite assuring locals only last month services were not at risk. Shadow Health Minister Rob Lucas said although the Millicent community was repeatedly told last month services at the hospital would not be cut the decision was made following a meeting with the Australian Medical…
DetailsPremier Weatherill is sadly out of touch in awarding a $25,420 pay increase to one of his personal spin doctors. This week’s Government Gazette shows Mr Weatherill has given a 24.3 per cent pay increase to Media Adviser Jarrad Pilkington, taking his salary to $130,000. Mr Weatherill has simply changed Mr Pilkington’s title to Senior…
DetailsPremier Weatherill’s senior advisers embroiled in the child sex abuse scandal at the centre of the Debelle inquiry have received a combined pay increase of $107,000 since 2010. The Debelle Report is unequivocal in its damning assessment of Mr Weatherill’s senior advisers, Mr Blewett and Mr Harvey, and their failure to advise then Education Minister…
DetailsThe Weatherill Labor Government’s budget cuts have now extended to cutting nursing jobs. “This is yet another broken promise by Mr Weatherill, who has always said he would not cut ‘front line’ positions such as nurses, doctors, teachers and police,” said Shadow Health Minister Rob Lucas. “Information originally provided by a source within SA Health…
DetailsThe EPAS IT project has blown out by another $14 million, bringing the new total cost to $422 million. This comes after it was revealed in Premier Weatherill’s Budget that there had been a $40 million blowout in Oracle, another Health IT project. “Premier Weatherill and his Labor Government’s handling of IT projects has lurched…
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