STORMWATER HARVESTING

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (14:43): My question is to the Minister for Water and the River Murray. Will the minister provide an update on recent achievements in the harvesting of stormwater within South Australia?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:44): I thank the honourable member for his very important question, and I am very pleased to respond. I have had the great pleasure of attending three separate stormwater harvesting project events over the past few months, each celebrating important milestones for stormwater harvesting projects currently underway in our state.

The first of these projects, Water Proofing the West, stage 1, is the first component of a region-wide collaborative effort by the City of Charles Sturt, the federal government and the state government to harvest, treat and store stormwater for use in Adelaide's west. There are a number of key elements to this project, including the Old Port Road wetlands, the Cheltenham wetlands and the West Lakes golf course and Cooke Reserve wetlands. This project will result in approximately 2,400 megalitres of recycled water each year being re-used on parks, reserves and ovals in the area.

This of course means that water which would have drained untreated to West Lakes, the Port River Estuary, the Barker Inlet and out to the Adelaide coastline, potentially damaging the environment with pollutants and atrophic outcomes and causing further harm to seagrass meadows, will now be put to a productive use. These projects not only reduce wastewater volumes but also reduce harm to the local marine environment. With $7 million of support from the state government, construction is set to be completed by the end of this year. Water is then expected to be available for 2014 for re-use and potential injection into the local aquifer by 2015.

Further, the second project event I attended was to celebrate the Oaklands wetlands stormwater re-use scheme. This project, located behind the Warradale Barracks, takes up some of the Oaklands Estate Reserve and the old driver training centre on Oaklands Road. Supported by the state government to the tune of $2.6 million, I am told it will provide not only the capacity to recycle stormwater (some 200 million litres), it will also provide recreation opportunities and biodiversity benefits for the local community and the local environment. This project again shows that in addition to the benefit this project will bring in diversifying our water security, it is possible to also provide complementary benefits to the local environment, such as providing a haven for flora and fauna with these projects.

The third event I had the pleasure of attending was the Byards Road wetland site at Reynella East that forms part of the Water Proofing the South, stage 2. This project has now been completed and, together with stage 1 of the project, provides the ability for the City of Onkaparinga to capture, store, treat and re-use some 3.6 billion litres of stormwater. The full project includes an integrated system of aquifers, seven wetlands and 23 kilometres of pipeline linking parks, reserves, schools and sports fields. This makes it the biggest stormwater harvesting initiative in the state and the City of Onkaparinga, together with everyone who has worked on the project for so long, deserve our heartiest congratulations.

This, like the other projects, was a joint initiative of state, local and federal government and I am pleased to advise that the state government provided $7.5 million towards it. Stormwater harvesting is something this state government has been serious about for a long time. It is pleasing to see that vision, first laid out almost 10 years ago now, is now bearing fruit. South Australia currently leads the nation in stormwater capture and re-use. There are another five projects currently occurring in Adelaide and when they are all complete will provide up to eight gigalitres of recycled stormwater. This is a pleasing volume of water and it will put us in a good place to meet our ambitious target outlined in the Water for Good policy of providing up to 60 gigalitres of recycled water by 2050 across greater Adelaide.

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: The honourable member across the aisle says we will never reach it. That is the level of their ambition: don't try, don't aspire, don't try to do better, just coast along. That is the Liberal attitude. Let's not go out and try to improve the lot of the city and improve our approach to water, let's just not do very much at all. That is the Liberal approach; it is not ours. We believe, on this side, that we should continually be trying for more. We should aspire for better. We know that unless we provide the leadership in this state it will not come from the other team. The Liberals have never been able, in their lifetime, to come up with a big idea, and they never will. It is down to a Labor government to dream the big dreams for this state and to deliver, and we will.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I am interested in this.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Thank you, Mr President. I am pleased that you are interested in this, sir, and those on this side are, but the Liberals opposite never will be. They can never recognise a good idea when they see it, not even if it is force fed to them.

The Hon. T.J. Stephens interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Well, you spend all of your time, like the Hon. Mr Ridgway, digging yourself out of big holes and relying on false information to come in here and make accusations. That's what you do: you use bad information, you make accusations in this place and you fall flat on your face. Do it again; I will be very pleased. Whilst I am—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Let's behave; let's behave for at least another half an hour.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Mr President, I do need your protection from the rabble opposite so that I can continue to speak about stormwater. The state government recently signed a new stormwater management agreement between state and local government.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Mr President, the Liberals are continually shouting over the top of me. You would think that they would like to hear this wonderful success story. The state government recently signed a new Stormwater Management Agreement between the state and local government. This agreement formally outlines the roles and responsibilities and the funding arrangements for stormwater management and flood mitigation in South Australia.

Originally signed in 2006, this revised agreement will ensure that South Australia has the most appropriate and modern structure to progress a coordinated multi-objective stormwater management approach for South Australia's urban areas. In particular, it will improve the effectiveness of the Stormwater Management Authority in facilitating stormwater management outcomes in concert with the state and local government.

The main differences between the new agreement and the 2006 agreement are that the new agreement will: provide for the minister to nominate the presiding member in consultation with the Local Government Association; require the Stormwater Management Authority to adopt a more strategic and business-like approach by requiring it, for example, to prepare a 10-year strategic plan and a three-year business plan for its activities for ministerial and Local Government Association consideration; and provide for the Stormwater Management Authority to be advised on stormwater technical planning, policy and legal issues by an advisory body of state and LGA nominees.

The next few years will see even more exciting developments for stormwater harvesting and stormwater management within Adelaide. Diversifying our water supply, reducing contamination in our marine environments, recharging aquifers and, most importantly, wasting less water is what the Labor government stands for.