Question Time

URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:19): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, as Leader of the Government, a question about use of scarce taxpayers' dollars.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: In May and June this year, the Urban Development Institute of Australia organised a tour of internationally acclaimed urban developments. It was the second such tour. The Hons Pat Conlon and Paul Holloway—ministers for infrastructure and urban development, respectively—attended the first in 2009, as did the head of the Department of Planning and Local Government, Mr Ian Nightingale.

The second tour was this year and it was equally successful. We inspected sites and discussed planning and development with developers in London, Manchester, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. I say 'we' because I was privileged to be invited. My report on the trip is on the parliamentary record and has been lodged with your office, Mr President. We went to places relevant to potential projects in Adelaide, inspected urban regeneration on transport-oriented developments, talked to people about what makes these developments profitable and user-friendly, and shared ideas with other delegates on issues pertinent to similar projects to be undertaken in Adelaide.

One of those delegates was, of course, the CEO of the Department of Planning and Local Government, Mr Ian Nightingale. It was a busy itinerary. It was an expensive trip. The department has just tabled its annual report, which shows that one of its employees travelled to the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Singapore. He went to the same places we did, and I assume that this employee was Mr Nightingale. The cost to taxpayers was $33,632.71.

The instant, Mr President, that your longtime friend the Hon. Jay Weatherill became Premier, Mr Nightingale was moved sideways to primary industries. My question to the minister for food and fisheries is: what sort of a return on investment have taxpayers received after sending a senior CEO overseas at great cost to study urban development only to have him moved within months to administer food and fisheries?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (14:21): It is rather refreshing to actually hear a member of the opposition acknowledge the really important contribution that this government has made to urban development and planning and to acknowledge how valuable the work that we do has been, which includes conducting certain visitations and delegations overseas. It is not just overseas: we also do them intrastate and interstate as well, and they are all important. It helps us to see what is being done elsewhere, to make valuable comparisons and to gain new insights. Also, very importantly, it helps us create networks and relationships which are extremely valuable.

We are very fortunate to have Mr Ian Nightingale as the head of our new PIRSA agency. I cannot tell you how thrilled I was to have a person of that experience and calibre appointed as chief executive for the new agency, and what an important agency it is. For the first time in I do not know how long, what we have done is put regional development and primary industries, food, forestry, and wine all into the one agency, all under the one chief executive, all under the one minister, creating incredible potential for efficiencies, helping to reduce duplications, and also building on synergies between those different portfolios that will enable us to put a much greater focus on these critical policy areas.

I could not think of anyone better qualified than Mr Ian Nightingale. We know that he originally came from PIRSA. He worked for many years in PIRSA and then moved across into planning and development, and now he is moving back into PIRSA, but into an agency that clearly has much broader implications. We know that all of the experience, wealth of knowledge and understanding that he gained, the establishment of networks and relationships—not just previously within his PIRSA portfolio but also within planning and development—none of that is wasted. What that does is go together to build and create a body of knowledge that has great depth and breadth of understanding right across those portfolios and, more importantly, connections with other portfolios, and we know that that has been one of the government's greatest challenges.

We know that government is particularly good at working up and down within its departments and agencies. We know, however, that a challenge for us is working across government to ensure that we have put in place leadership (our chief executive) that has a greater depth and understanding across portfolios.

I am very pleased that the honourable member acknowledges and values the incredibly valuable work that this government has put into helping build up our knowledge, our skills, our relationships, our networks. I can absolutely assure him and everyone else in this place that not one dollar of that, not one skerrick of that wisdom, will be lost. It is harnessed within Mr Ian Nightingale and he will use all of that as part of his overwhelming, infinite wisdom, skill and expertise to not only help develop this portfolio but, as I said, make those really important connections across a range of other portfolios as well.