RENMARK PARINGA LEVEE BANKS

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (14:45): My question is to the Minister for Water and the River Murray. Will the minister explain why the government is refusing to provide funding to the Renmark Paringa council to repair flood levee banks that protect the town from flooding? With your leave, I will explain, Madam.

The levee banks were built in the late 1950s to protect Renmark from high rivers. Communities are again at risk from eastern state floods heading our way in approximately six weeks. Is the government prepared to risk a town for the sake of $860,000?

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:46): I thank the honourable member for his disorderly question.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: The honourable member was correct to say that in 1959, I think, as a result of the 1956 floods, levees were built around Renmark and Paringa. They were financed by the state government of the day and constructed utilising state government funds. Part of the arrangement, of course, was for the council then to accept responsibility for the maintenance and care of those levee banks.

It is clear that the council has not discharged its responsibilities with respect to the maintenance and care of those levee banks. I do not agree with the information I have received at least about the figures with respect to the water coming down, and what that might do to those particular levee banks, because we know that at 93,000 megalitres last year, they held—

The Hon. J.M. Rankine interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: I stand corrected—94,000 megalitres or whatever it was per day, and they held up. The information I have at the moment is that we will not reach that same level, so I expect they would be safe. Notwithstanding that, though, something needs to be done about those levee banks. In the first instance, I think the council should take its responsibility that it committed to back in 1959 with respect to the maintenance of those levee banks.

The other point I would make is that we are working with council, and will continue to work with council, to look at a suitable outcome because quite frankly, if they did breach, if this year we had a '56 flood, for example—and there is no indication that we will—Renmark would be in a bit of strife. What I also know is that the argument that I put here today, that the council has responsibility for that, will not wash because it will come back to us to say, 'Why didn't you do something about it?' So, we are working with the council, and the honourable member is aware of that.

We will continue to work with the council to look at ways in which they can discharge their responsibility. The member knows as well as anyone else that some of the local members—his constituents—within that area have done certain things to those levee banks, so there is a collective responsibility up there to fix them, and we will help them through that and we will continue to work through that with the local council.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the next question, I just remind the member for Chaffey that explanations are just that when you are asking a question. They are not an opportunity to make a comment or suggest a hypothetical situation. The member for Light.