DESALINATION PLANTS

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (14:42): My question is—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: It is obvious—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Wortley.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: If there is one thing that this elitist rabble—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: I have a point of order, Mr President. The honourable member has not sought leave to do anything, and he should not be speaking.

The PRESIDENT: The honourable member will seek leave or ask his question and not respond to the opposition.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Will the Minister for Urban Development and Planning provide an update on any progress made on the state government's proposed desalination plant at Port Stanvac?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (14:43): The Rann Labor government is committed to securing the water needs of the residents of Adelaide. As part of that commitment—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Catch up? Are they joking, Mr President? We are setting the pace. What have they done?

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: One of these days, and it will not be too much longer, we will look at eight years of—well, I would not call them achievements—decision making under the former Liberal government. This is the party that wanted to still have 1929 trams ending in Victoria Square, and they talk about public transport. This is the party whose only policy is that it wants to build sporting stadiums. That would be the only progress members opposite could talk about. They can promise lots of things but, when they had eight years to do it, what did we get? We got sporting stadiums.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: No; what you did was divert money from public transport into the arts. They took money that should have gone to public transport and they put it into the arts That is why, over the years, there has been such a backlog of money in public transport. That is what they did there. They built wine centres and sports stadiums, and they still want more of the same. I do not think that the Liberal opposition should be talking too much about catch up. As part of our commitment—

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: It was our idea.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: It was your idea! Heavens above! As part of that commitment—

The Hon. S.G. Wade: You're embarrassed.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: I am not embarrassed in the least. What would I be embarrassed about? This government will deliver on good projects. Anyone could go to the media and say they are going to do things. What about—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The only people finding this embarrassing are, perhaps, the young ones in the gallery.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: What about their planning strategy? They are talking about seaside villages at places such as Marion and Noarlunga. Next we will be having them at Coober Pedy! In fact, when they released it, they said that this was the most comprehensive direction statement since Sir Thomas Playford. It is without a doubt so comprehensive that everybody forgot about it within 24 hours—it was a joke. If we decide to put in a swimming pool at Aldinga, no doubt we will be accused of pinching their policy because it happened to be in one of their absurd policies.

The time will come when we can assess eight years of what they did under their government. We will remind people about their public transport policy—the 1929 trams ending in Victoria Square. They did not want any extensions or things like that. What we are talking about here is substance and progress.

As part of the commitment, the proposed 50 gigalitre desalination plant planned for Port Stanvac has been declared a major project under the Development Act. The $1.1 billion desalination plant is one of the largest infrastructure projects in which the state government has invested. By declaring the desalination plant a major project, a process has been triggered that provides a comprehensive and coordinated assessment of this development.

The Development Assessment Commission, which is an independent authority, will determine the level of scrutiny imposed. The commission can require three levels of assessment, from a development report to a public environmental report to an environmental impact statement. The major development declaration provides for a comprehensive assessment process, and it allows for the consideration of issues, such as the suitability of the location at Port Stanvac, the size of the plant, its brine discharge, the impact on Gulf waters and other environmental issues, to be fully explored.

The proposed plant will occupy about 20 hectares, and its exact location at Port Stanvac is subject to negotiations between the state government and Exxon Mobil. The major project process enables a comprehensive assessment of the requirements of key stakeholders, including the Onkaparinga and Marion councils and the broader community. Government stakeholders include the Environment Protection Authority, the Department for Environment and Heritage, the Coast Protection Board, DWLBC, SARDI and the fisheries section of PIRSA.

The first stage of the assessment process requires the submission by SA Water of a formal development application, which will then be examined by the independent Development Assessment Commission. DAC will then decide which of the three levels of scrutiny available under the major development assessment process will be required. The commission will also provide guidelines on the issues that need to be examined in greater detail.

A document responding to the guidelines will then be produced by SA Water. A formal period of public consultation, including a public meeting, will then occur where the public and other stakeholders will have an opportunity to review the document and receive information about the proposal. All the public submissions received during the consultation period will then be considered and a response document prepared by SA Water. These documents will then form the basis of an assessment report that will be provided to me by Planning SA.

A recommendation will then be made to the state Governor on whether the proposal should be approved and, if it is to be approved, under what conditions. Major development status allows us to get the ball rolling on the assessment process so that this important project for the wellbeing of South Australia can be developed with public input and environmental scrutiny.

This desalination plant, I should stress, is not a stand-alone initiative, it is part of a $2.5 billion investment in water infrastructure to secure South Australia's water supply, which includes doubling the capacity of storage in the Mount Lofty Ranges and linking reservoirs in the north and south of the ranges. This latest step in the development of the desalination plant reinforces this government's commitment to securing a reliable water supply for South Australia.