Tarrkarri

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:03): My supplementary question to the Minister for Arts is: having had receipt of that report, has the minister or the government made any approach to the commonwealth government seeking that they move the $85 million that they have committed to the project into any other areas?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (15:03): I thank the deputy leader for his question. As I have stated publicly on more than one occasion, the Tarrkarri project represents a significant decision that the government will have to make in the months ahead. What amounts to a firm view within the government is that this parcel of land, which is rare and therefore precious in its nature, must be best utilised for the long-term interests of the state. There isn't a parcel of land coming up between the Botanic Garden and the Railway Station really in any of our lifetimes again. This is the only one, and we want to get it right.

We have commissioned a review. The cabinet received that report last week and a comprehensive presentation from the review panel members, and that is now under active consideration by the government and will be for the weeks ahead. What I think it's fair to say is that the $200 million that was allocated towards the project previously was already seeing a curtailment to the previous design in a way that compromises the project going forward. If we are going to do something here we want to do it properly, and that's why it has to be considered very, very carefully. We are considering the recommendations from the panel in that context.

In terms of the specific element of the supplementary question from the deputy leader about approaches to the commonwealth, naturally the government will be turning its mind to any opportunities to attract other revenue in the event that the project goes ahead at all. That's what we have to work through. As it currently stands, the government's policy is to pursue the project, but we now have to contemplate that in the context of the full suite of recommendations from the expert review panel, then in due course we can also turn our mind to other opportunities around funding.

The funding from the commonwealth through the previous City Deal is still there. What I would say is that I think that on any reasonable and objective analysis of the Adelaide City Deal versus I think the Geelong City Deal and versus I think the Wollongong City Deal—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: You don't know what I'm about to say.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: The City Deal that underpins the Tarrkarri project shows that Adelaide has not received a dollar-dollar weighted representation that other, far smaller jurisdictions received, which probably lends itself to the sort of negotiating tactics that underpinned the member for Barker's observations that were made very, very recently.

This isn't a government that is just going to say, 'Just cop what we're given from the commonwealth.' We are going to actively fight to make sure that we get at least our fair share from commonwealth expenditure into the future. The Tarrkarri project, or the Aboriginal arts and culture centre project more broadly, is something that we are taking very seriously. As I said, what underpins the government's deliberations and judgements over the course of this journey is making sure that whatever we do works and that whatever we do, we do properly, first time round.