POINT LOWLY

The Hon. M. PARNELL (15:15): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Leader of Government Business, representing the Minister for Planning, in relation to development at Point Lowly.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M. PARNELL: In today's government Gazette is the announcement that the Minister for Planning has declared the proposed iron ore export facility at Point Lowly a major project. This proposal involves iron ore storage facilities, ore unloading facilities, a railway spur and ancillary development, including a wharf potentially up to three kilometres long. I note that this development is on top of existing industrial development at Point Lowly, including the existing diesel fuel facility that we know leaks.

There is also a proposed new diesel facility—perhaps two. We also have the proposed desalination plant that we know will pump billions of litres of waste into the gulf. We also have a proposal for an explosives factory. As members would know, Point Lowly is the site of the only known breeding aggregation of giant Australian cuttlefish in the world and is also a valued recreational area for the people of Whyalla. My questions of the minister are:

1. What analysis did the government undertake into alternative locations for a bulk ore export facility on Eyre Peninsula before agreeing to declare the Point Lowly project a major development?

2. What assurance can the minister give that the EIS for the proposed bulk ore export facility at Point Lowly will include a comprehensive, independent analysis of alternative port sites on Eyre Peninsula, noting that the minister has the power to require this analysis under the Development Act?

3. Given the potential cumulative impact of existing and proposed industrial developments at Point Lowly, isn't this latest proposal a potential sentence of death by a thousand cuts to the giant Australian cuttlefish at Point Lowly?

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) (15:15): I thank the honourable member for his important questions. I will refer them to the Minister for Planning in another place and bring back a response.