Ministerial Statement

SA WATER CHARTER

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD (Chaffey—Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water Security, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Small Business, Minister Assisting the Minister for Industry and Trade) (14:04): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: Under the Public Corporations Act I am required as the minister responsible for SA Water to review the corporation's charter annually, in consultation with the Treasurer. The charter is effectively a general direction to the corporation from the government which sets out the government's strategic objectives, priorities and requirements for the corporation's board. I am pleased today to lay before parliament a revised charter which strengthens SA Water's links to the state government's sustainability agenda. SA Water's strategic objectives regarding sustainability have now been incorporated into the charter to ensure its commitment to providing a sustainable and secure water supply and minimising its impact on the environment in accordance with government policy.

The revised charter makes transparent the links with the legislative obligations of the corporation and also more explicitly defines the interrelationship between the government, the board of SA Water and the chief executive. The revised charter makes direct reference to water conservation and requires SA Water to play its part in supporting the objectives, targets and priority actions in South Australia's Strategic Plan.

SA Water forms an integral part of the state government's long-term water security planning. SA Water is instrumental in delivering key projects to ensure our long-term water security, including the $1.1 billion desalination plant; the $300 million interconnector; increasing our water storage capacity in the Mount Lofty Ranges; increasing the reuse of our waste water to 45 per cent through projects such as the $60 million Glenelg-Parklands pipeline; a $270 million upgrade of the Christies Beach Waste Water Treatment Plant; the $21 million Torrens aqueduct replacement project; and the $24 million home rebates scheme.

The Chief Executive of SA Water has been appointed to the recently established Water Security Council, which I chair. Consisting of chief executives from key state government agencies as well as independent experts, the council will provide an ongoing formal vehicle for issues of strategic importance on water security. Professor Rob Lewis, previously Executive Director, SARDI in PIRSA has been appointed as the interim Commissioner for Water Security for a period of four months pending the appointment of a permanent independent commissioner. Professor Lewis will lead the Office for Water Security in the government's water security policy agenda and will report directly to me as Minister for Water Security.

Delivering long-term water security remains a top priority for the South Australian government and SA Water plays a vital role in achieving that security. SA Water already has a strong commitment to sustainability and the environment, and the revised charter underpins and strengthens that commitment.