House of Assembly Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1) 55 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Thebarton Police Barracks Thebarton Police Barracks Ms WORTLEY House of Assembly Torrens Thebarton Police Barracks Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (15:07): My question is to the Minister for Planning. How and when did the rezoning of the Thebarton Police Barracks occur? Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION House of Assembly Taylor Minister for Trade and Investment Minister for Housing and Urban Development Minister for Planning The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION (Taylor—Minister for Trade and Investment, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Planning) (15:07): I thank member for Torrens for her question, very timely to the debate. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION House of Assembly Taylor Minister for Trade and Investment Minister for Housing and Urban Development Minister for Planning The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: I am sure this question will come as no surprise— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! There's a point of order. Minister, please be seated. I will hear the member for Hartley on a point of order under 134. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order, member for Badcoe! I will hear the member for Hartley. Mr TARZIA House of Assembly Hartley Mr TARZIA: This information is already in the public domain. I struggle to see what the minister could actually elaborate on. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Hartley, therein lies perhaps the defect in the point of order: it speculates as to the answer. We will hear the answer. The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION House of Assembly Taylor Minister for Trade and Investment Minister for Housing and Urban Development Minister for Planning The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: It shouldn't come as any surprise to the 16 members opposite and the former minister who signed off on the code amendment. The Hon. A. Koutsantonis House of Assembly West Torrens Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Minister for Energy and Mining The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: Who was that? The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION House of Assembly Taylor Minister for Trade and Investment Minister for Housing and Urban Development Minister for Planning The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: Well, it was the member for Heysen. But it was his former colleague the member for Bragg who initiated the code amendment, that rezone for the Thebarton barracks, and it was one of the most significant achievements. She initiated the code amendment on 16 July 2021. What did this code amendment do? It sought to ensure that the land west of the existing city Riverbank zone, which was the site of the basketball stadium, would be rezoned a city Riverbank health subzone, a health subzone that included not just the Thebarton Police Barracks but also the old Adelaide Gaol site. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order, members to my right! The minister has the call. The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION House of Assembly Taylor Minister for Trade and Investment Minister for Housing and Urban Development Minister for Planning The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: The former member for Bragg's code amendment— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION House of Assembly Taylor Minister for Trade and Investment Minister for Housing and Urban Development Minister for Planning The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: —was adopted by her colleague—because by that stage she had moved on to other things—the member for Heysen. On 16 December 2021, the member for Heysen provided precise amendment instructions to spatially apply the city Riverbank zone in place of the Adelaide Parklands zone to the area shown on the adopted map, including the land comprising the Thebarton Police Barracks, the old Adelaide Gaol, and to spatially apply the health subzone to that mapped area. So these changes were commenced by the member for Bragg and executed by the member for Heysen a mere two months and two days shy of the caretaker period. But it's not just there. On 16 July, when the member for Bragg initiated this code amendment, she stated in the letter to her chief executive: The Code Amendment seeks to review planning policy applying the Riverbank Precinct to ensure the Planning and Design Code suitably aligns the future strategic land use and built form outcomes…[including, the] need to rezone the land to support the development of the new Women's and Children's Hospital. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION House of Assembly Taylor Minister for Trade and Investment Minister for Housing and Urban Development Minister for Planning The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: It gets better and better. The initiation request from the former Minister for Planning went on to elaborate on the intended policy on the code amendments that it was anticipated to propose to rezone the effective land to respond to strategic land use investigations and a review of the existing established land uses and to rezone the land, including the Thebarton Police Barracks and the old Adelaide Gaol site to accommodate health and biomedical related facilities and services. What we have here is— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Member for West Torrens! The Premier is called to order. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION House of Assembly Taylor Minister for Trade and Investment Minister for Housing and Urban Development Minister for Planning The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: Upon adopting the Riverbank Precinct code— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Member for Chaffey! The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION House of Assembly Taylor Minister for Trade and Investment Minister for Housing and Urban Development Minister for Planning The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: —on 16 December, 2021— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The Premier is called to order! The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION House of Assembly Taylor Minister for Trade and Investment Minister for Housing and Urban Development Minister for Planning The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: —the member for Heysen— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION House of Assembly Taylor Minister for Trade and Investment Minister for Housing and Urban Development Minister for Planning The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: —formally removed the Thebarton Police Barracks and the old Adelaide Gaol from the Parklands zone and placed it in the city Riverbank health subzone, making way for the development of that site to support infrastructure initiatives of state significance in the Riverbank, including the development of the Women's and Children's Hospital. So it should be clear, absolutely clear to everyone, that despite all the protestations from those opposite, despite all their hoo-ha on radio, despite all the questions in this house, they never, ever state their real position, but what they did in government was to prepare this area for Health. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The minister's time has expired. The member for Chaffey is called to order. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The member West Torrens called to order!