Jetties

Mr HUGHES (Giles) (14:27): My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. How is the Malinauskas government working to protect South Australia's recreational jetties?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:27): This question is coming from a member who's got probably the best regional jetty in South Australia courtesy of the previous Weatherill government. Jetties are the lifeblood of local regional economies. I have to say they bring tourists, they bring joy, they connect communities, they connect neighbours, they help people get together, they create experiences that last a lifetime. I remember as a young boy catching my first ever fish off the Ceduna jetty. Jetties are something that are beloved in South Australia, indeed across all of Australia, but in South Australia there is a special connection between our jetties and local communities.

It is also equally clear that some councils have failed to keep up their end of the bargain on maintaining these jetties, and they have let their local communities down. These assets were divested to local communities in a state that was fit and proper, and it was expected that those local communities would maintain those jetties to a fit and proper standard and maintain them for their local communities. Alas, a lot of those councils have not done so and have let their local communities down, especially some councils that receive commonwealth funding to upgrade jetties and then move that funding to other jetties within their community, which I found to be extraordinary. Because of this lack of investment—

Mr Telfer: Get the facts right.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Get the facts right?

Mr Telfer: Yes.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Stand up any time you like and move a privileges motion, if you like. Everything I am saying here is accurate.

Mr Telfer: No, it's not.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Then if you are going to accuse me of it not being accurate, get up and say something, or just sit quietly. Because of the lack of investment, the assets councils have been entrusted to maintain have been allowed to deteriorate and in some cases close. The people who suffer from this are their local communities. In the last budget, last year, this government was the first government to step up and put in regular money for maintenance and upgrade of jetties, jetties that we don't maintain and operate, jetties that are maintained and operated by councils. We put in $20 million.

That funding was designed to address the immediate and critical concerns regarding the condition and sustainability of jetties to get them open and keep them open, and we are moving swiftly. In recent months, we have allocated more than $10 million from our initial budget commitment to fast-track urgent repairs to help get closed facilities open again for the benefit of regional communities.

This week, the Treasurer has announced that the Jetties Renewal Program will be extended indefinitely. With the 2024-25 state budget providing an additional $5 million boost from 2027-28, the commitment effectively locks in the initial $20 million four-year SA Jetties Renewal Program in perpetuity to $5 million each and every year going forward to keep our jetties open. This is in stark contrast to the previous government's policy on jetties, which was to keep their assessment and report on jetties secret and hidden. I say to members opposite: zero dollars were budgeted by those opposite to fix divested regional jetties—zero dollars. I think it is an indictment on them.

The good news is that the government wants to make sure that regional communities get to continue to enjoy their jetties. I also remind councils that have divested jetties that they have a legal obligation to maintain those jetties, and if they don't want to keep and maintain them, they have to return them to the state government in the condition in which they were received.