Schubert Electorate

Mr KNOLL (Schubert) (15:38): I rise today to speak about two parcels of land in the Schubert electorate that have been for sale for quite some time but still remain on the market. I have recently been involved with discussions with local community groups about the vacant land that are in two regional townships and the possibility of the ownership of that land being returned to the local community. As a new MP, I have had many constituents and people coming to me with proposals about spending government money. Some of them are ambit claims, some of them are much more thought through and have obvious benefits to the community.

It is often the case that people come expecting that government money is an endless pool, or government money is seen as an endless pool, and that is certainly very much not the case. Much of what we argue about here in this chamber is around the limited resources that government has.

I would contend that, in this case, for these two pieces of land it is entirely sensible—and it would not cost much for the state government—to remit these two parcels of land back to the community to create community spaces that help to bring those towns together. The first parcel of land is the area surrounding the Mannum primary school, which has been on the market for seven years, since the school was closed in 2005 and merged with the high school to become Mannum Community College in 2006.

The land around the old Mannum primary school consists of three allotments totalling 2.12 hectares. I understand that one of the three allotments is eminently saleable and there is interest in developing that one portion of the land; but because those three titles are encompassed together as one parcel the offer does not stand to purchase all three. Certainly, I would like to see, first off, the land split into three parts so that one parcel of land can be developed and the other two parcels of vacant land could then be gifted back to the community.

The Mid Murray Council purchased the old school building in 2010 at a cost of what I understand was about a quarter of a million dollars, and it has undertaken extensive works to turn it into a Mannum Community Hub opposite the Mannum Community College. I was pleased to attend the opening of the hub in April, and I was very glad to have my federal colleague, the member for Barker, Tony Pasin, there.

I was also extremely delighted to have there the Minister for Regional Development, the member for Frome, both opening a fantastic centre in which the local council had invested dollars on behalf of the community. It has been able to develop a hub that offers extensive services, whether it be administering services to elderly people, courses for improving IT skills for local residents, or offering other WEA classes and courses. It is a fantastic place. The community has taken a school that had closed down and brought it back to a point where is now a hub for the community to come together.

The second piece of land is the old Moculta primary school, which was closed at the end of 2010, and has now been on the market for some three years. The site comprises vacant land and an old school building. When I visited that school building earlier this year it was completely derelict. In the middle of a small town of only a couple of hundred people—I think there are about 70 or 80 houses—there is this one building which is a blight on that community space. The community wants to bring it back and revitalise it so that they can again be very proud of their town.

According to Renewal SA's fact sheet on the disposal of surplus government land, each government department is required to regularly review its landholdings to determine whether the land is being fully used in a sustainable way to achieve government objectives. I wrote a letter to the department asking about these parcels of land. In correspondence from Renewal SA dated 28 April 2014, they state that 'to date there has been very limited interest in either of these properties', which, to my mind, is a way of saying nobody really wants to buy them.

The Moculta community would potentially turn this into a multipurpose area for postal services, an art gallery, cafe and historical centre. The Mannum community, with their parcel of land, would like to activate this as an open space for community sport and recreation facilities. Local businesses are ready to support the development of a playground and amenities. I understand that this land is sitting on the balance sheet as part of the government's budget; but if no one is prepared to buy it what is it really worth? I would say that to the community it is worth a lot. I know that there are many ambit claims made around it, but surely—

Time expired.