Gillman Land Sale

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:28): My question is to the Premier. How can the Premier substantiate his suggestion that there was no other prospect for the development of the Gillman site which would have created jobs when the commissioner references the Land Management Corporation's announcement that the land would be put to tender and that other parties had already put forward a proposal for a joint venture to develop part of the site?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:29): Well, we're not interested in somebody using this site as a dump. We want it to be developed for employment land. That's our ambition for the site, and I'm sure that there are people who want to use the site for their private economic benefit. What we're interested in is the public interest, and the public benefit. So, that's the reason we took the stance that we did.

Sure, it is unusual to entertain an unsolicited bid in this fashion, and you only do it in exceptional cases where the benefit is a high benefit. Also, the other factor here is, of course, we were worried about losing the opportunity.

This is an extraordinary proposition. Somebody is going to spend a couple of hundred million dollars of their money making our land more valuable. That is something you want to look at. That is something you want to give a chance to actually work. We are not as interested in somebody using our land as a dump. I think we are entitled to take a view about that, which we did—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —and that is at the heart of the matter.

The SPEAKER: The member for Mount Gambier is warned for the second and final time, and the member for Chaffey is warned. Leader.