Bushfire Preparedness

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (14:17): My question is to the Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services. Can the minister please inform the house how the government is protecting and preparing our community in the lead-up to summer?

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:18): I thank the member for Heysen—

Mr Boyer interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Wright is warned.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —for his very important question. As everyone in this house would know, no-one is working harder than the member for Heysen to make sure his community is prepared for the important summer ahead. As we know, as the weather starts to warm up and the sun begins to shine, we need to be doing all we can to make sure we are as prepared as possible for the summer ahead. The Marshall government is delivering on protecting and preparing our community for when the summer does come.

The Marshall government is committed to building a safer South Australia and resourcing our emergency services with the facilities and equipment they need to carry out their vitally important work. Today, I was proud to announce the next steps forward in a long overdue, new, purpose-built emergency services command centre. The new home for our emergency services will be constructed on Richmond Road in Keswick, boosting South Australia's command and control capabilities for the CFS—

Mr ODENWALDER: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: Minister, be seated for one moment.

Mr ODENWALDER: This information is all publicly available and I have sent you the link.

The SPEAKER: At the moment, the information the minister is providing appears to be, on the face of it, very similar to a media release. I will listen to ensure that the rest of the minister's answer—the whole of it—is not on the website, per our convention.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: I am glad those opposite are paying attention to what we are delivering on this side because for 16 years they did not deliver.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: They want to stand over there and make noises, but I hope they are excited with what we are delivering for the people of South Australia. As I mentioned, this will bring the CFS, SES, MFS and SAFECOM together—some great bodies within South Australia that do outstanding work in their own right—collaborating and working in this facility. This facility will be of island technology. What that means—so those on the other side understand because they never delivered it and we are delivering on this side—is that this will be a unit whereby, in the case of a disaster or a catastrophe, it will be able to be stood up of its own accord.

It will be an island, in that it will be self-sufficient and stand alone. It will have electricity, it will have backup generators, it will have all the support it needs. It will also be earthquake proof. We know that we don't have a command centre that fits this bill, and this will be delivering this for South Australia. There will be 185 jobs in the process as well, creating jobs here in South Australia and delivering for the people of this state. Three hundred employees and volunteers will be based out of there and, again, the collaboration of these organisations is what we are looking to see.

What we will also get is the state ready reserve strike team. What this does is it gives more capability to our firefighters to make sure—

Mr ODENWALDER: Point of order: I haven't heard anything, apart from debate, that isn't in the press release.

The SPEAKER: I have the point of order. With respect to the minister, he is certainly not reading what is on the media release, but I will be listening attentively to his answer.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I have the point of order. I am listening to the minister's answer.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: Thank you for your protection, Mr Speaker. It is important those on the other side listen because for 16 years what we are outlining here is what they didn't deliver.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order, member for Lee.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: This is debate, referring to the opposition.

The SPEAKER: Minister, I ask you to come back to the substance of the question. Some compare and contrast is allowed, however, to a point.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Elizabeth is called to order, as is the member for Reynell.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: I was talking about the state ready reserve strike team and the extra capability that will give, and the pleasure that gave the agencies as we announced this today with the CFS, SES and MFS all standing together, all united to make sure that we are working together to create a safer South Australia. This is something that we haven't had in the past, that was lacking for 16 years, that we are delivering as the Marshall Liberal government. We are very proud of that.

Amongst the other things we are delivering, of course, as we go into the summer is our fixed-wing aerial capability that will be spotting for sharks along the coast. It does a marvellous job running from North Haven to Rapid Bay, along with the helicopter that does an outstanding job. I saw it in operation just last weekend in my local community there, making sure it ushers people out of the water and keeps them safe. The drone capability, again, is adding to that aerial capability.

The key theme here of what I am saying—and they don't like to hear it on the other side—is we are increasing resources and increasing services for South Australia. We are building a better South Australia, a safer South Australia, and we are delivering better emergency services.