Jetties

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (15:00): My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. Does the minister support his department's process for building a comprehensive business plan for jetties in South Australia, and when is he expecting this process to be completed? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr TELFER: In the Sunday Mail on 16 October 2022, a quote from a spokesperson from the Department for Infrastructure and Transport said that it was building a 'comprehensive business plan for jetties at Tumby Bay, Port Germain, Edithburgh, Kingston South-East and Rapid Bay'.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (15:01): We are continuing the pilot program for SA jetties established by the previous government. The draft SA jetties schedule was completed in August 2021, but unfortunately I understand that's not available to the current government because it was taken to cabinet.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: They might release their cabinet documents.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Maybe, potentially.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The pilot program, which is testing the draft strategy across Tumby Bay, Port Germain, Edithburgh, Kingston and Rapid Bay, is to propose a comprehensive business plan for the management of the state's jetties over the long term. I will be making a response as soon as we can, when the program is concluded. In South Australia, there are 76 timber jetties or wharves, some of which are over 100 years old and which are at end of life, with the risk of closure within the next two to five years.

I know the importance of jetties to regional communities. They are the lifeblood of their tourism sector, and they are also the lifeblood of those local communities. They are important. We did a very, very big program in the previous government of restoring and upgrading jetties not only in metropolitan Adelaide but also in regional South Australia.

We are very, very keen to make sure that regional management and maintenance of jetties is maintained. Regional management and maintenance for 36 jetties was divested to councils throughout the late 1990s through leases between terms of 25 and 99 years, with the first lease expiring December 2024, which is Tumby Bay, and North Shields and Louth Bay expiring in 2025. The return of these divested jetties and wharves back to the government over time will present a significant budget challenge, and it is going to be difficult.

We are aware of their deterioration, their condition, their age and the inability of councils—or lack of rate base—to maintain these jetties. No-one is expecting jetties like Tumby Bay to have the financial capability and capacity to maintain jetties. I am sure it has nothing to do with the financial abilities of the former mayor, but it is a small council; I accept that.

Mr Telfer: Release more land.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Do you have a solution?

Mr Telfer: Yes, release more land.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Release more land? That will fix the jetties?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: From the mouths of babes!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Wright! Member for Elizabeth!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: From the mouths of babes!

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Tarzia interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hartley!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I can see the deterioration on those jarrah jetties already receding by the thought of us releasing more land. It's a jetty-led recovery!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The program is progressing the business case containing the condition assessment and detailed costs, and it is scheduled for completion in late 2022/early 2023. This is something that I am very keen to collaborate on with my cabinet colleagues, especially my very, very close friend here, the Treasurer. I accept that jetties are the lifeblood of regional communities, and we're going to make sure we can look after them.