Targeted Lead Abatement Program

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Frome) (15:17): So, minister, your advice in the house is that there has been no-one outside who has a copy of or seen the final report or the draft report of the TLAP investigation that was independently carried out by Lew Owens.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order: standing order 97. I am not entirely sure there was a question in there. It certainly didn't comply with the standing orders.

The SPEAKER: I did take the member for Frome's contribution as a question. The member for Frome may wish to seek leave to introduce facts in relation to a report.

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: Can the minister confirm to the house what was his indication before, that this report has not been made public to anyone to see—the final report, which was handed out by Lew Owens in 2020?

The SPEAKER: I will give the Minister for Energy and Mining an opportunity.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (15:18): The member for Frome the first time asked if I would confirm that nobody outside this house has seen the report, and then the member for Frome asked the second—

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: Just for some clarity, I said outside of this house or in the public domain outside of this house, yes.

The SPEAKER: The member for Frome might have repeated the question. The Minister for Energy and Mining has the call.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Let me try to help the member on this issue the very best I can. The first question was: has anybody outside this house seen a copy of the report? The answer to that is, yes, people in my office have seen it and very senior people in the Department for Energy and Mining have seen it. It's a report that was commissioned quite appropriately. It will need to go to cabinet before it can be made public. I expect that will happen, without wanting to pre-empt my colleagues' decision.

The second time that the member asked he said, 'Has anybody in the public seen it?' No, I don't believe that's the case. I am not aware of that being the case. I can't say any more clearly than I have perhaps half a dozen times to the member for Frome that I will make sure that he gets to see it before it goes to the public. I think that's a fair courtesy and respect to a local member on a local issue.

I can say, and have already, that one of the recommendations that has come out of this report is to make some very significant changes to the TLAP program as it was developed by the member for Frome and the former government. So we are doing that, and that is not about throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The people who worked on that program have done a lot for Port Pirie. Port Pirie would be in a more difficult position with regard to lead on surfaces, etc., than they would be if those people had not done their work.

But we are not satisfied that enough has been achieved, so we are not prepared to continue with the program as it stood any longer. We wanted, out of an abundance of respect to the people involved and to the member for Frome who developed that program with his colleagues at the time, to give it every opportunity. But it has not delivered the results that we are determined to provide for the people of Port Pirie.

There are two things which I have shared: one is a new structure and a new leader, and the other is greater transparency. Both of those things have been announced. In fact, I said to the media people who came to hear of this announcement in Port Pirie on Friday that I would give each and every one of them Mr Peter Dolan's mobile number on 12 July when he starts his job, not sooner for obvious reasons. They were all very glad to hear that.

People from the local media were saying that they just got stonewalled by the previous government. They just got stonewalled every time they were looking for information on very straightforward things to do with this very important topic. They just hit brick walls everywhere they went. I have assured them that that will not be the case under the leadership of Mr Peter Dolan—and I say again, second in charge of the EPA in South Australia. We have brought an incredibly high-calibre person into this work who is incredibly focused on getting better results for the people of Port Pirie.

I should also share something with the house for those who may not be completely aware. One thing is with regard to contemporaneous emissions from the stack at Port Pirie that the EPA oversees. The TLAP program is about dealing with 130 years of legacy lead in the city—lead that's in the ground, below the ground, that comes up when people are excavating, lead that comes up in dust, lead that lands on playgrounds, lead that has been in houses in some cases for decades. We are determined to make sure that the people of Port Pirie get a better deal under our government.