Adelaide CBD Living

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (15:01): My question is to the Minister for the City of Adelaide. How is the government working to encourage more people to live in the CBD?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for Consumer and Business Services, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (15:01): Can I thank the honourable member for his question.

Mr Tarzia: Blue lines and small bars.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: That's one of the many things we have done, member for Hartley.

Mr Gardner: John's going to buy them each a drink, personally.

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is called to order.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: I think he is being provoked a little by the member for Kavel, but anyway.

The Hon. J.W. Weatherill: A puppetmaster.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: He is like a puppetmaster.

Mr Goldsworthy interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Kavel is on two warnings.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: The puppetmaster! To get on with the question, can I say that new research is being commissioned to better understand how to encourage more people to live in Adelaide's CBD. The research has been commissioned by the Capital City Committee, which, as you possibly know, is a place where the government and the city council work together, and this will paint a picture of emerging and future employment markets in the city and how to leverage these opportunities to grow the CBD population. The research will be made available to CBD developers to help them develop homes suited for the needs and desires of local, national and international homebuyers.

Members might actually be interested to know that the population of the city at one stage back in the 1980s got down to about 12,000 people, and that's from a high of a century ago of nearly 44,000 people. So, we are gradually building up. We are about 23,000, 24,000 now, and we are hoping to pick up the rate of growth.

Following a public tender, the research contract was awarded to a company, Hudson Howells. The research will include a sample of over 2,400 people, including residents of greater metropolitan Adelaide who have recently moved into the city, the interstate market, international students, industry and investors.

There are many benefits to increasing the number of people living in the city. Having more people in the city will breathe new life into the CBD, support local businesses and lead to more things for locals and tourists to do, which is why we have commissioned this research. Also, a city with people is a safer city than a city without people; and having eyes on the street around the clock is very much an essential part of a safe-living city for people.

There are wider benefits too, of course, though: there are reducing carbon emissions, preventing urban sprawl and making it more cost effective to improve public transport in and around the CBD. So I am looking forward to the results of this project as it will be a very useful tool for both governments and business.