STORMWATER HARVESTING

Mr SIBBONS (Mitchell) (15:05): My question is to the Minister for Water.

An honourable member interjecting:

Mr SIBBONS: A bit better than all you guys today, I think. I guess this is important to South Australia, this one. How is South Australia tracking on the national scale with respect to stormwater developments?

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water) (15:06): I thank the honourable member for his question. Contrary to the view of those on the other side, South Australia leads the nation in stormwater re-use. The government of South Australia appreciates the importance of stormwater in reducing the pressure on—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: —potable water demand. Our respect for this valuable resource is evidenced by the number of strategic actions relating to stormwater management and re-use in the Water for Good plan. Under the guidance of Water for Good we are funding nation leading—nation leading—stormwater initiatives, working with local councils and key stakeholders to identify harvesting opportunities, developing a stormwater master plan for Greater Adelaide and supporting stormwater quality research. These initiatives will help to ensure that we secure our water future.

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order, member for Mitchell.

Mr SIBBONS: I am really struggling to hear the water minister speak here. I just can't hear.

The SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Mitchell. I was just about to stand on my feet. If people do not want to be here I suggest they go for a walk. As I said, it is the last question time for the year; we should be full of Christmas cheer. And this is important for our state. The Minister for Water.

The Hon. P. CAICA: Would you like me to start again?

An honourable member: Yes, please.

The Hon. P. CAICA: Okay. I do thank the honourable member for his very important question. Some might have heard, but obviously my friend the member did not.

South Australia leads the nation—leads the nation—in stormwater re-use. The government of South Australia appreciates the importance of stormwater in reducing the pressure on potable water demand. Our respect for this valuable resource is evidenced by the number of strategic actions relating to stormwater management and reuse in the Water for Good plan.

Under the guidance of Water for Good, we are funding nation leading stormwater initiatives, working with local councils and key stakeholders to identify harvesting opportunities, developing a stormwater master plan for Greater Adelaide, and supporting stormwater quality research. These initiatives will help ensure that we secure our water future.

South Australia's innovation in stormwater re-use has now been recognised through national awards. The Stormwater Industry Association National Awards for Excellence were held as part of Stormwater 2010—the National Conference in Stormwater Industry Association—on 10 November in Sydney. The awards encourage, recognise, promote and celebrate excellence in innovation, development, completion and management of stormwater projects and the people involved.

At these awards South Australian initiatives were successful across numerous categories, including Excellence in Strategic or Master Planning, Excellence in Infrastructure and Excellence in Research, Innovation, Policy and Education. I would have thought that the opposition might like to join in recognising and celebrating the achievements of these outstanding South Australians.

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: Well, your policy is run it through reeds for 10 days and it is good enough to drink.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: Your policy is run it through reeds for 10 days, then it's clear, almost good enough to drink.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: I am doing my best, Madam Speaker.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Davenport!

The Hon. P. CAICA: The winner in the Excellence in Strategic or Master Planning category was the Water Proofing the South: Christie Creek upgrade—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: —that's right—which incorporates a whole-of-catchment based approach to stormwater harvesting. The project is a partnership between the City of Onkaparinga, the Australian government, the Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board and the South Australian Department of Planning and Local Government.

This project was designed to secure water for non-potable use, while at the same time significantly contributing towards reducing nutrient and suspended sediment loads to Gulf St Vincent, as recommended by the Adelaide Coastal Waters Study. A master plan for a water re-use scheme was developed.

The winner in the Excellence in Infrastructure category was the Adelaide Zoo entry precinct, where Wallbridge & Gilbert engineers worked within a multi-disciplinary team to create a stormwater management scheme that was based on delivering water-sensitive urban design outcomes. The project features a number of water-sensitive urban design techniques, including vegetated swales, biofiltration swales, infiltration—

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: But not to drink it after 10 days, Iain; not to drink it, as is your policy, after 10 days—gross pollutant traps—and they know a lot about gross pollutant traps, Madam Speaker—and underground rainwater tanks. The work was regarded by the judges to be—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: Why don't you celebrate it? The work was regarded by the judges to be innovative, translatable and reproducible. The winner in the Excellence in Research, Innovation, Policy and Education category was a book entitled Adelaide: Water of a City. The book had contributions from 130 predominantly South Australian authors, from universities, government, industry and private enterprise. The book explores Adelaide's water problems and potential solutions from a range of perspectives, including: historical, environmental and climate related, engineering and social. The book shows that water management in Adelaide needs a balance of many solutions.

These national awards have recognised achievements in South Australia that relate to stormwater re-use. I will continue—despite the opposition—to inform the house of future achievements as we undertake further initiatives and work towards producing a comprehensive strategy for the future management of stormwater in South Australia.

I met today with Austrade representatives, who are working very closely with members of the water industry in the United States and, importantly, members of the water industry here in South Australia. There is no doubt in my mind that, despite what might be the view held across the chamber, we lead the nation in stormwater management and we lead the nation in wastewater management.

Underpinning all of this is some outstanding research which will result in advanced manufacturing products that are going to be not just the envy of what happens elsewhere around the world but, importantly, are going to underpin what is a water industry here in South Australia that has relevance, not just nationally but internationally, with respect to how we engage those other nations and the ongoing economic development of this state. It would be very nice if the people on the other side got behind some of these initiatives instead of always just bagging them.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! No quarrels across the floor, please. Member for Goyder.