Private Members' Statements

Private Members' Statements

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:44): I rise to inform the house about the issues surrounding the boardwalk at Thorndon Park. It has been an issue since 2020. The boardwalk that goes around the reservoir is a very popular walking track for residents in Morialta and Hartley. The park is obviously situated within Hartley, and the member for Hartley has been very active in this project as well.

In September 2020, council wrote to the former Minister for Environment, Minister Speirs as was, now Leader of the Opposition. Following that, a number of meetings between the Department for Environment and Water and council took place, because the park is on Crown land but managed by the council in effect, so the structural challenges on the boardwalk were theoretically the responsibility of state government.

The department engaged a consultant to do a detailed design, and as a result of all that work back and forth with council, in February 2022 a project was approved. Funding was approved by the minister, Minister Speirs, the development of the design was completed, and council was given a copy. Funding was all good and the project was set to start—until the state election came along and everything slowed down.

The department took a long time to get back to the Campbelltown council, who have been chasing the minister, as have the member for Hartley and I, for a long time now—two years—and finally this week it has been announced that funding has finally been again approved for this project to commence.

We cannot wait for the boardwalk to once again be accessible for all residents in Morialta and Hartley and all the people who enjoy using Thorndon Park. Well done to the council for persisting. Thanks to the member for Hartley for helping and to all the local residents who have lent their support for this campaign. I am really looking forward to the work being completed.

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (15:45): I rise today to reiterate my commitment to ensuring that the government and local health networks continue to provide accessible community health services in Lucindale, Coonalpyn and Tintinara. As you are aware, Mr Speaker, Country Health Connect has changed the way it delivers community nursing services in these towns. This has, quite rightly, angered me and many locals who rely on these services. They can no longer book locally or receive certain treatments. Some are being forced to wait days to see a nurse or travel up to 100 kilometres to Murray Bridge or 50 kilometres to Naracoorte.

I have had productive talks with the health minister and the local health networks. They were left in no doubt of my strong feelings about this issue. They have committed to setting up working groups to get a clear understanding of the issues. They admitted that something is not working. They have assured me that this was not a budget-cutting measure and that the intention was never to reduce services. They say they are committed to providing access to nursing care closer to home.

It is my aim to keep the government and the local health networks accountable. It is my aim to see towns like Lucindale, Coonalpyn and Tintinara have access to community nursing care when they need it. We have a doctor shortage in regional towns. We have medical clinics no longer taking on patients because they cannot keep up with demand. Now, more than ever, we need to expand community health nursing services to work in conjunction with GPs, not make it more difficult to access nursing care. I look forward to updating the house on the outcomes of this review and will push to see this completed as soon as possible.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:47): I rise to speak on an issue that is of much concern to much of the farming community right around the state, but it is impacting significantly on farming practices in the seat of Chaffey, impacting on neighbours next door and far away. That is spray drift. Spray drift is having a serious impact on neighbouring crops that have seen significant damage through a careless act of the neighbouring farmer.

What I must say is that the former Liberal government, with myself as the minister, installed the Mesonet weather station network, and that funding has now been taken away. That weather station network was put in place for a simple reason: to give farmers who are spraying crops the understanding of when to spray and when not to, through weather conditions and forward forecasting. What we are now seeing is significant damage.

I am calling on this Labor government to reinstate the Mesonet weather station network and to have primary producers comply with the advice from the app-based info service, because before much longer people are going to start testing their rainwater tanks. They are going to find 2,4-D in their rainwater tanks, 2,4-D and ester. We are going to see MRI tests into our food chain that will see contamination.

I am not blaming individuals, but I do know that there needs to be a level of compliance by farmers in the way that they practise management of spraying on their farms. It is something that you are going to hear a lot more about with me here in this chamber.

Mrs PEARCE (King) (15:49): I rise to speak about an exceptional member of my community, Kevin Ryan, fondly known as Kev. Kev is a station officer at the Golden Grove Fire Station and has served our community proudly through the South Australian MFS for 38 years. I understand that prior to that Kevin was with the Army and this April will mark 50 years of service in the line of danger to help keep communities safe.

Over his time with the MFS, Kev has fought bushfires across our state and across the nation. He has faced confronting scenes at house fires and car accidents. He has raised awareness at countless community days and schools. He has empowered others through running drills and training sessions. He has rescued children from floodwaters, animals from trees and drains and everything else in between.

He has been exposed to horrific workplace accidents and dangerous chemical leaks and assisted other emergency services and rescue operations. He has supported his workmates as a peer support officer and is a well-known friend and mentor to many in our community, something he believes is the greatest honour that can be bestowed on any one person.

Kev is a man who has saved lives, one who has comforted people in their darkest and sometimes final moments, and a man who has always provided this with only the most sincere love, kindness and pride. He has loved serving our community and there is only love and appreciation for all the hard work he has done. Thank you, Kev, for all your hard work and efforts over the years. We wish you all the very best for your next endeavour.