Riverbank Precinct

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:46): Supplementary question: did the Riverbank Authority and/or Mr McEvoy approve of the proposed commercial building that is now incorporated into the proposal?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform) (14:47): Yes. There is a set of principles which were arrived as part of the orderly process of bringing this project to its present fruition. As part of those principles that involve things like east-west, north-south axis, lines of sight, visibility of the plaza area from—

Mr Marshall: The master plan.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: No, it's beyond the master plan.

Mr Marshall: Before the master plan?

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Yes. Yes, this was another layer—

Mr Marshall: Which this breaches.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: It doesn't. You might be listening to—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: —a gentleman in a purple suit, I was going to say; you were less abstract than I was. The point is that, yes, the Riverbank Authority has been talked to about this, and I think they would say that one of the great things about having a building like that in this precinct is that, instead of the place being a place which is seldom occupied by anybody—in fact, one of the most desolate spots in the city of Adelaide—it will be able to have a life which involves people activating that space 16 hours a day because there is going to be as many as, I don't know, 3,000 or 4,000 people, who presently are not around here, who will be coming to this area because their place of work will be in that building.

So, the opportunity for those people in turn to provide the opportunity for development of restaurants, cafes, small venues (which Adelaide is becoming quite celebrated for), and a whole range of other things, and, incidentally, to take advantage of the Minister for the Arts' exciting development of the Festival Centre, which is, incidentally, enthusiastically backed by chairman Mr Abbott and Mr Gauthier, who is the chief executive, all of—

The Hon. J.J. Snelling: I've never seen Michael Abbott smile so much.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Mr Abbott and Mr Gauthier were the two happiest chappies I've ever seen on Sunday. What's happening is that the combination of that building, the upgrading of the Convention Centre and the upgrading of the Festival Centre are going to create an opportunity for people to come here for the first time. That building is an important part of making this a place which is there for people. It is part of bringing people into that place on a permanent basis so that the place realises its full potential.

Ms CHAPMAN: Final supplementary, sir, if I may?

The SPEAKER: Supplementary, deputy leader.