Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about the Women's and Children's Hospital in my electorate. Recently I was approached by the Women's and Children's Hospital Alliance, which is made up of doctors, nurses, clinicians and concerned citizens, who are concerned that the hospital is deliberately being run down by the state government in order for their shift. So I decided to take it upon myself to write to Minister Greg Hunt asking him to tell me all the details about the funding and how it's been divvied out and who's responsible for what. Surprise, surprise—I note that I received a letter back from the minister on 28 September that basically says to me that the South Australian government and SA Health have not matched the percentage increase in funding to the Women's and Children's Hospital provided by the federal government, making a mockery of a particular accusation by the state Liberals that the state government has overfunded it by $8 million. I'm not interested in a slanging match between Minister Hunt and Minister Wade in South Australia, but what I know is that the Women's and Children's Hospital is a fantastic hospital that has serviced our mums and babies for decades. We need the hospital to provide the services that it is there for—to look after mothers and babies—and ensure the services are in place.