OUTBACK DEVELOPMENT ASSESSMENT

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (17:04): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for State/Local Government Relations a question about the outback areas communities and development assessment.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: In January, despite being ridiculed by minister Gago that I shouldn't be there in January—

The Hon. G.E. Gago: Members of the outback ridiculed you, not me. They reckon you're an idiot.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Who? Name them.

The Hon. G.E. Gago interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Let's get on with it.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I visited the town administrator in Roxby Downs and APOMA, and a number of community representatives in both Roxby Downs and Andamooka, who expressed deep concern about the lack of development assessment staff for those outback areas, in particular regarding the $7 million development in Andamooka that is a cabin development as well as a caravan park to support the mining industry.

Also, I suspect that the development in Marree was probably constructed without approval because of the fact that officers are not available to assess those developments. I also visited people in Lyndhurst and Copley, who said that when they put in development applications the officers take forever to come. I also visited the operator of the Angorichina village in the Flinders Ranges who had three units destroyed by fire but was unable to get a timely development approval to replace them.

My question to the minister is: given the mining boom that we are about to have and the interest in outback tourism, will the government resource the development assessment team (which I think is based in Port Augusta) more adequately so that these people can get development assessment in a timely fashion? Mr President, as you would recall from your time in the country areas, when people make a decision to do something they expect the government to be there to give them assistance when it comes to development assessment. So my question is: what will the government commit to extra resources in the area of development assessment?

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (17:07): I am very glad and quite excited to hear of the great outback epic tour that the member has taken around the country. It would have been a great holiday, I am sure. I can assure him that I was doing the work required back here in the city while he was out there enjoying himself.

I have met with APOMA and at no time did they express any concerns regarding a $7 million project, or anything else. The reality is that they are just happy to see that the government is actually trying to assist them to get on the right track with this mining boom. We will be putting in resources and a master plan to help at Andamooka and also ensure that the community levy is put under way. Also, we will be looking at the appropriate funding once that has occurred. There will be a town planner in the city. At the moment, they rely totally on volunteers.

When I meet with the Outback Communities Authority, I will be discussing the issues that have been raised by Mr Ridgway to see, first, whether there is a problem and, if there is a problem, we will be looking to try to fix it.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: I don't go out on holiday. I actually go to help where the problems are. I go out there to help and look at the problems around the place and, when there is a problem, we look to fix it. I will give an undertaking to the honourable member opposite that, if there are issues in what he has just outlined to this chamber, I will certainly be discussing it in the right quarters and looking to assist where I can.