CITY OF ADELAIDE (CAPITAL CITY COMMITTEE) AMENDMENT BILL

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 12 July 2012.)

The Hon. R.B. SUCH (Fisher) (11:24): I support this bill. I think it is a very reasonable proposition from the member for Adelaide that the member for Adelaide be on the City of Adelaide Capital City Committee. I cannot see why you would want to exclude the residents of the City of Adelaide from having their representative on this committee. I understand that the government is going to oppose this and I think it is being very petty in doing so.

I think people who live in this particular part of the state are entitled to have their member convey their particular views. There are a lot of issues being raised by the council, some of which I question. There is a proposal, for example, to have a blanket 40 km/h speed limit in the city and 50 km/h on the perimeter. I do not have a problem with 40 km/h where there is intense shopping; I think it makes a lot of sense. However, I do not see why you should have that as a blanket provision in all of North Adelaide or in the rest of the City of Adelaide. I think the people who live there should have a say in matters like that because that is being discussed, as I understand it, by the Capital City Committee at the moment.

The overlap between council and parliament is interesting. When I came into this parliament I was a member of a council as well as a member of parliament but that is no longer allowed in South Australia. It is no longer allowed in New South Wales, and we will see an interesting result, I believe, this Saturday because the Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, is also a member of parliament and the government in New South Wales changed the law so you can either be one or the other. I believe what will happen there (and I will have to eat humble pie if I am wrong) is that there will be a big backlash against Clover Moore because of some of the policies that she has pursued, which might be well-intentioned but I think there is going to be a reaction against them.

In relation to Adelaide, it seems that the current Lord Mayor has a hostility towards the motor car. I am a supporter of bike riding and walking. I was one of the pioneers of wearing a cycling helmet here nearly 40 years ago. I still have it—it was a mountain safety research helmet—and I have been a great fan of cycling for a long time. These issues about what you do with on-street parking and the way in which you energise the city are all valid concerns and issues that the residents, through their local member, should be able to put to the Capital City Committee.

I am very surprised that the government would want to deny this opportunity. I am all in favour of democracy and I think this is just an extension of the democratic principle that the people who live in an area should have a say and that it not be left to others, in terms of issues that will be considered by that Capital City Committee. I strongly support this bill. I think it has merit, I think it is reasonable, and I urge government to reconsider if it is planning to oppose it.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mr Griffiths.