Gillman Land Sale

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:33): If the Premier is telling the parliament today that it was envisaged by the government that this site would need to be filled, then why wasn't the increased valuation for that site, from being able to receive that fill material, included in the evaluation undertaken by his department?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:33): These are all matters that were—

Mr Marshall: They have been canvassed before, we know. It's the same—

The SPEAKER: The leader—

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: They have indeed and—

The SPEAKER: The leader is on the edge.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: When there is a valuation undertaken on a piece of land, it takes into account all the relevant circumstances. I think we are entitled as a government to rely upon our expert land disposal body to provide us with expert advice about what the value of a piece of land is. You would have thought that, as a government, we are entitled to go to our land disposal body for land that it actually holds and say—

Mr Pederick: Put it out to open tender—that's how you find the value.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: And jeopardise the possibility of getting an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars and the creation of many jobs. They were simply the choices in front of this government. We are not going to apologise for—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: We are not going to apologise for taking—

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer is called to order and the member for Colton is called to order for unsolicited advice to the Speaker.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: We're not going to apologise for taking a course which puts the creation of jobs ahead of other considerations. I think we were within our rights to rely upon the advice from Renewal SA, and there has been no criticism of the fact that we did that. What there has been criticism of is the way in which Renewal SA went about securing up-to-date valuations. Although, it's also worth saying there has never been a suggestion in any of the reports, despite doubts being cast on the valuations, that there is a valuation of the land which is any higher than that which we've got.

Ms Chapman: Yes, because you didn't do one.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: To take that further—

The SPEAKER: Once more and the deputy leader will be out, again.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —the valuation that does exist on the public record is so low compared to the price we actually received, and there is nothing to suggest in the intervening period that land prices skyrocketed, there is really nothing to suggest that we got anything other than a good value. There certainly is no alternative valuation. Even to this day, nobody has been able to produce a valuation to suggest that there was going to be a higher value, but that was not the motivation of the government, seeking to extract the maximum value for this land: that was a pleasant side benefit. We wanted, essentially, to create jobs in this important part of South Australia.

The SPEAKER: The member for Davenport is called to order, the member for Finniss is warned and the member for Morphett is warned a second and final time. Leader.