Parliamentary Procedure

ROXBY DOWNS (INDENTURE RATIFICATION) (OLYMPIC DAM EXPANSION) AMENDMENT BILL

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 4 March 2009. Page 1508.)

The Hon. M. PARNELL (21:33): I move:

That this order of the day be discharged.

I want to speak very briefly to the motion to discharge this order of the day. I want to put on the record—so that it does not come out of the blue—why, having put a bill on the Notice Paper, I am now asking for it to be withdrawn. As members would know, this bill was to amend the Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) Act to provide a three-month public consultation period on the EIS. The reason that I am now withdrawing this order of the day, and subsequently will move to withdraw the bill, is that this afternoon the Premier announced that the government had seen reason and that the eight-week public consultation period that was proposed for the environmental impact statement was, in fact, too short. The Premier has now committed to a 14 week public consultation period which, in rough terms, is around 3½ months. So, the Premier having met the Greens' position—that we need longer—there is no pressing need for this bill to proceed.

I thank the many South Australians who took the trouble to write to the government and point out that this project (which is earmarked to be the biggest in this state's history) and this document (which is to be the biggest document ever printed in this state) requires longer than an eight-week public consultation period.

I thank all those people who engaged in the debate. I believe that this council would have passed legislation requiring a longer period of public consultation, but on the basis of the Premier's undertaking that is not now necessary. So, I am very pleased that the Greens' campaign to get the government to see reason has been successful.

Order of the day discharged.

Bill withdrawn.