Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

You know, Labor are electricity vandals and Labor are hospital vandals. I look by comparison at the member for Goldstein, who spent many years advocating for lower electricity prices and helping to design policies such as the abolition of the carbon tax which have delivered lower electricity prices. The member for Goldstein has done such a tremendous job in supporting new health services in his area, such as the new Holmesglen 160-bed hospital. But one of the things he remarked on to me at the opening of the new Holmesglen hospital is that hospitals like this cannot run unless they can afford the electricity with which to provide vital services.

We know that in South Australia, South Australian Labor deliberately drove the Northern Power Station out of operation. They didn't just drive it out of operation; they made sure that it was physically blown up. And do you know what? In so doing they destroyed the resilience of the South Australian system to the inevitable challenges that come.

And so what occurred? What did we see in terms of the impact of this South Australian system on health services in South Australia? Let me quote from the ABC's headline, and I want you to listen to this: 'Embryos destroyed at Flinders Medical Centre after generator fails in blackout'.

Ms Rishworth interjecting—

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