North Adelaide Golf Course Tree Removal

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley) (15:30): The last question of my life is to the Minister for the Environment. Does the minister support the removal of hundreds of trees in her electorate? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: In 2022 Labor committed to protect the Adelaide Parklands and urban tree canopy as outlined within their heritage and greening policy. Hundreds of trees in the member's electorate are expected to be removed to expand the North Adelaide Golf Course.

The Hon. L.P. HOOD (Adelaide—Minister for Climate, Environment and Water) (15:31): I thank the member for his last question in this place and wish him all the best for what comes next. One of the first things we did upon coming to government was actually scrap the former Liberal government's plans for a $662 million basketball stadium on our Parklands. One of the first things we did when we came into government was restore the Parklands protection to Helen Mayo Park where the former Liberal government planned to build a basketball stadium. We decided to scrap the basketball stadium and invest that money back into our health system, which is what we have done. We have built more beds, employed more nurses, and there are more ambulance stations, because we do understand that our health system is a priority for South Australians.

I am very proud that one of my main election commitments for our community is a brand-new Adelaide Aquatic Centre on our Parklands. The Minister for Sport has been very excited to be able to talk about that particular project, not once but twice this week in our chamber. What that will achieve is not just a brand-new centre, indoor and outdoor pools, it will be an absolute game changer for our community. It also includes the return of 1,000 square metres of Parklands and will include hundreds more trees being planted in our community, because we are passionate about our Parklands and providing more community facilities for people in our community.

That includes a major investment in an important community hub in my electorate and that is the North Adelaide Golf Course. I have had the pleasure of visiting the golf course and being given a tour by the former president, Marlene Boundy, and what was really wonderful about this particular community hub was the fact that you could see so many locals—in particular, groups of men, groups of retired people—going around and playing golf, keeping fit, active and connected.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Florey, and a few others on both sides, we are almost there, eight minutes. Come on, let's do it. Keep the tone down.

The Hon. L.P. HOOD: This is a significant investment in a public golf course to make it a world-class public golf course, and so I am very excited to see that investment that will see it remain for the majority of the year a public golf course whilst also providing for world-class events that bring millions and millions of dollars that go into our economy in order to spend on our hospitals, on our schools and also on important community infrastructure. I am very excited to see the completion of our Adelaide Aquatic Centre, which will show that when we step in, when we invest in community infrastructure, we get better facilities and a better outcome for our Parklands.