Coober Pedy District Council

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Stuart) (14:46): My question is to the Minister for Local Government. Can the minister update my community of Coober Pedy on the situation of the Coober Pedy council currently being under administration? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: As we are aware, the Coober Pedy council was placed under administration by the previous government and during that time not one of the three local government ministers, or any other ministers, visited Coober Pedy during that four-year period to communicate on the administration progress to the community. The community would be appreciative of any progress made with regard to finalising the administration and getting back to an elected body.

The Hon. J.K. SZAKACS (Cheltenham—Minister for Trade and Investment, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Minister for Local Government, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (14:47): I thank the member for Stuart for his question. As a former local government minister, I know how passionate he is. Today, in response to his question, I particularly want to discuss the extraordinary work that he was able to undertake in his couple of years as minister. I also thank the member for Giles for his advocacy on and for the Coober Pedy community.

It is worrying that the party that is allegedly stood up and set up and believes in the representation of regional communities, just couldn't be bothered getting up to Coober Pedy, one of the most extraordinary—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.K. SZAKACS: COVID—two years, two years before COVID, and in the first weeks of me being the minister, where was I? I was in Coober Pedy. I appreciate that ministers from the former government were preoccupied with other things: travel rorts, stopping ports in Kangaroo Island, all of those really important things. But notwithstanding that, the Coober Pedy community knows that what they have and what they have to offer for our state is pretty extraordinary.

They are one of the most amazing places in our state: the history of opal mining, their connections to First Nations communities and also a really important service hub, not just north into the APY lands but also down to the Woomera area. As we see defence and space industries continuing to gather speed in our state, the Coober Pedy community will play a critical role in supporting that. What I can commit to, and what I can provide a high degree of assurance to the member for Stuart on, is that the Coober Pedy community will be out of administration next year.

If it wasn't for the really important work that the member for Stuart undertook as minister, we would be much, much farther away from that resolution. If it was the trajectory and the effort and the appetite which the former government had, we would still be sitting here with nothing to show for it. We certainly wouldn't have secured—thanks to the member for Stuart's advocacy—the $250,000 in the last state budget to deliver the service and assets review, which I have now received and the community of Coober Pedy has received. This is a really important piece of work that goes directly to the resourcing and restructuring issues to ensure a sustainable financial future.

The one thing I will agree with the former government's approach on for Coober Pedy is that it was right to put the Coober Pedy council into administration. It had poor governance and abysmal asset management and was a council that was at absolute breaking point.

As a government, we have instituted the Coober Pedy task force which comprises senior representatives from the South Australian government agencies including agencies responsible for or that have an interest in water and electricity services. It is also examining options for the future delivery and governance of essential services. The work is now very mature. As a government, with the support of the member for Stuart and the member for Giles, we will very soon be able to update the Coober Pedy community on their future, which is a bright and prosperous one.

Fundamentally, what I can say to the member for Stuart today is that this government will ensure that the water runs, that the electricity continues to be powering this community and that your council will be exiting administration next year. Coober Pedy's best days are ahead of it, and thanks to the member for Stuart that will be delivered.