Grievance Debate

University of South Australia, Magill Campus

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley) (17:14): I rise today to talk about the UniSA Magill campus site. It seems that the government has had a change of heart when it comes to this site. It was not that long ago when the now government was actually spruiking the benefits of keeping the Magill uni site for, in fact, a university, but of course fast forward to 2023—and it is very different today, again.

In 2023, the Minister for Planning gave an assurance, I think it was to InDaily at the time, that the site would remain a uni site for 10 years and that master planning would not occur at that site for some five years. But, alas, today we found out in question time that the process beginning the master planning has actually just commenced. What I mean by that is we have been informed that a tender has just been issued, if you like, for the master planning of this site.

My local community is fed up and sick and tired of the contempt that is shown towards people when it comes to planning by Labor governments. My community has put up with an increase in housing developments of around 8,000 from 2016 to 2021. The former Labor government made an absolute—

The Hon. N.D. Champion: Who was in government then?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: It was actually you guys in 2016, when you were in Canberra. That is right; 2016. The former Labor government made an absolute mess of planning rules in the Campbelltown area. It was the Liberal Party, when we came in in 2018, that had to unravel the mess and fix the mess that Labor left for us. It is because of things like that that my community has no trust towards the Labor government when it comes to planning and housing.

We all know that we have to do our bit, but respectfully, Campbelltown council, the surrounding area, has done its bit because the residences increased by nearly 8,000 homes from 2016 to 2021. I am not going to be lectured to by this planning minister and this government that we need to see this yield increase dramatically when my community has done its bit. I will not even talk about other communities and whether they have been carved up like Campbelltown has, and why that has or has not happened. That will be for another day.

What I want to highlight is that the process that has been undertaken by this government is a debacle, and this is exactly why people do not trust this Labor government when it comes to planning. They made a mess of it before, and what we are seeing now is they are already contradicting themselves when it comes to this site.

I know that people need to understand that some form of development will occur at this site, and no-one is saying that that is not the case. But have the honest conversation with the local community about what is going to happen to the things that matter to them. What is going to happen to the sports fields that are already at capacity in the eastern and north-eastern suburbs? Talk to any young parent out there at the moment and they will tell you that these venues are already at capacity.

Be up-front with the people of the local area and tell them what is in and what is out; what you are going to keep and what you are not going to keep. Do not just sell to the highest bidder, because we can do better than that. We can do better than just flogging off these sites to the highest bidder for high density.

At the moment, we have roads out there that are stretched, we have sporting fields that are stretched to capacity, we have a childcare centre with no certainty, we have an increase in development that is leading to more congestion in the area and, of course, we have a creek and trees running through the development. People use that space each and every day.

They have no trust towards this Labor government, because they said something last year and now they are doing the complete opposite this year. If you do not believe me, look at the tender document that Renewal SA has just issued. I remind you that it is not just this site; we have seen the history from Labor governments and how they treat local communities. Check the former Labor members and ministers and what recent publications they put out not too long ago about what was going to happen to this site.

At the end of the day, people just want certainty. My local community wants certainty, and that is why if we just got in a room we could sort this out. All we need is the following: we want the minister to come out right now and rule out high-density housing for that site. We understand that some housing will occur on those sites, but at the same time make sure that you come to the party with the community. Have the conversation with the local members and the community; make sure that you preserve open space.

There is a great way that the community can win in this as well: preserve the creek bed that runs through it, preserve Murray House, and make sure that you are up-front and you are honest with the community along the way, because my local community will not forget the Labor governments of old, and what they did when it comes to planning in our area as well.