Coastline Protection

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (14:45): My question is to the Minister for Environment and Water. Can the minister update the house on how the Marshall Liberal government is strengthening Adelaide's coastline?

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water) (14:45): I thank the member for Colton for his question and his passionate advocacy—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —for the protection of all our coastline in South Australia but particularly the coastline that he is fortunate enough to represent around Henley Beach and West Beach. We know when we came to government that the previous government had really had their head in the sand for far too long when it came to the protection of our beaches. The protection of our beaches, particularly in metropolitan Adelaide, really is the first line in the defence against—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —climate change in this state—the first line in the defence against climate change.

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell interjecting:

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

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: It has been so disappointing that the opposition have chosen to oppose our coastal protection strategies.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: claiming the opposition has a view on anything is debate.

The SPEAKER: I will listen carefully to the minister's answer.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: The 2019-20 budget included almost $50 million to be invested in the preservation and revitalisation of Adelaide metropolitan beaches. We know the 100 or so kilometres of coastline along metropolitan Adelaide are particularly vulnerable, but we know the most vulnerable spot lies around West Beach, Henley Beach South and drifting into the Grange area. We know that those beaches are literally disappearing into the sea.

Our policy and project strategy is to reverse the declines being experienced on those beaches and to install a reticulation pipeline to reticulate the sand from north to south. In order to do that effectively, we also have to inject a large amount of sand into the cell at West Beach to ensure that it remains resilient in the short term. We are gaining that sand from the Semaphore area, an area of our metropolitan coastline that naturally obtains sand from our littoral drift process and has for many, many years contributed hundreds of thousands of cubic litres of sand back to West Beach and the beaches further south.

This has happened for many years and we don't think that ongoing sand carting is acceptable. We don't want that to happen in the long term. It is inconvenient for residents along the metropolitan coastline, so that is why we are investing in a sand pumping pipeline to ensure that sand carting and the disruption that creates ends once and for all.

On this side of the house, we want to take effective action against climate change. We are not just going to whinge about climate change: we are actually going to do. That's what we are doing when it comes to fixing Adelaide's metropolitan beaches. We are not climate whingers: we are climate doers and we are creating that resilience in Adelaide's metropolitan coastline. The advocacy, the strong advocacy—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —that the member for Colton has applied over the long term, we have listened to that advocacy and we have been reacting. It must be a terrible shock for the member for Lee to see that while his beaches could fall away under the position of the opposition, which is to leave our beaches and continue to have those trucks come, disrupting—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Minister, be seated.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Speaking for the opposition, sir, is a point of debate.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I have given the minister fair rein. I uphold the point of order. Is the minister finished?

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: I have finished.