4 June, 2026
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (14:45): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question without notice to the Minister for Industrial Relations, who is also the minister representing the public sector, on the topic of enterprise bargaining for nurses and midwives.
Leave granted.
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: Today, hundreds of nurses walked off the job at the Lyell McEwin Hospital to strike for better pay and conditions. The offers put forward by this government continue to fall well short of providing a respectful living wage and improving working conditions for nurses and midwives. As one of the nurses noted when I met with them today, this campaign is about far more than just pay alone. The nurses and midwives log of claims include measures aimed at improving patient safety, reducing fatigue and ensuring South Australians receive the care that they deserve. South Australian nurses and midwives continue to be subject to less pay and worse conditions than their interstate counterparts, despite doing the same work.
My question to the Minister for Industrial Relations therefore is: when will this government finally come to the table and treat nurses and midwives with respect by offering them the pay and conditions they deserve?
The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Deputy Premier, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Arts, Special Minister of State) (14:47): I thank the honourable member for his question, and I note his continuing interest in public sector enterprise bargaining negotiations. During the last term of parliament, he and others in this chamber were very interested and would regularly ask questions. As the honourable member has pointed out, unfortunately the portfolio of the public sector that I did hold is now held by the Treasurer.
Having been Minister for Public Sector for the four years of the previous term of government, I have some familiarity with where the negotiations with the nurses and midwives federation were up to before the last election. I can say—having been involved in those negotiations over most of the last four years as Minister for Public Sector, and the many months of those negotiations with the nurses and midwives federation had been ongoing—that it has generally been done in a pretty respectful and good faith manner.
Before the last election, there was an administrative pay rise that was awarded. If I remember correctly—and I am happy to go and check—I think it was 4 per cent backdated to the start of the year, either January or February, plus another 2 per cent in October, bringing it, over this 12-month period, to a 6 per cent pay rise. This is a significant pay rise above the inflation level, representing a real pay increase, and it compares very favourably to many of the public sector pay increases in one year that have been negotiated by other public sector unions.
I know that the Treasurer, as well as the health minister and others, will continue to negotiate with nurses in good faith. I think every single South Australian, or a family member, would have been impacted and touched by the compassion and care that our hardworking and dedicated nurses show. That is why the government will continue to negotiate in good faith, but with the parameters that we need to make sure that the budget remains balanced. It is not something that is without parameters on what sort of pay rises can be achieved.
We have tried very hard, and I think have been very successful over the last four years, in making sure that our public sector workers in a whole range of areas, whether they be doctors in hospitals or the weekly paid in our hospital system—orderlies and sterilisers and so many others who do so much work to support the public hospital system—have received pay rises above inflation, so real pay increases. That is something we will continue to strive for.
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (14:49): Supplementary: is the minister concerned that the public sector job freeze that was announced yesterday by the Treasurer will put more pressure on frontline workers who will be required to pick up the slack?
The Hon. K.J. MAHER (14:49): I thank the honourable member for his question. As the Treasurer has outlined, any freezing of or reduction in the number of replacements for attrition are not to be applied to those very frontline workers like nurses.