OLYMPIC DAM

The Hon. C.V. SCHAEFER (15:18): By way of a supplementary question, given that the minister is well aware that the prawn and fishing industries intend to refer the EIS to an independent scientific assessment, and given that it has taken the government three years to prepare its scientific assessment, will he consider an extension for the fishing industry to seek an independent scientific opinion of the EIS with regard to the desal plant?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (15:18): If the fishing industry has any concern it should be doing it now. It has had three years to try to get all the base data.

The PRESIDENT: There is something fishy about the supplementary question as I did not hear anything in the answer about fish or the desal plant.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: It is important that I correct something that the honourable member said in her question when she implied that the government was undertaking the EIS. That is not the case: the EIS is being prepared by BHP Billiton. Through the independent Development Assessment Commission, the government has set the guidelines that the EIS has to comply with, and the 110 pages in the two volumes I referred to are just the list of guidelines or issues that the EIS is required to address.

The EIS has been prepared by BHP Billiton, which is responsible for printing it. It will release it and then must respond to submissions after the appropriate period, and it will then go for a more detailed assessment by government to ensure not just that the issues have been addressed (as that has already been looked at) but that all issues raised in the public consultation have been adequately addressed. In relation to the fishing industry, one would expect that it would be well aware of the basic issues involved with the requirements that have been in the guidelines for the EIS, and I would expect that it would be able to draft its response within that two-month period.