Whale Removal

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:30): A supplementary question arising out of the minister's non-answer: what were the 10 DEWNR staff doing, given that clearly council was doing the work of government to bury them? My third question, unanswered, was: have all intertidal zones been transferred to local government around the coastline of South Australia?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (14:30): As I said and outlined previously, the DEWNR staff were there coordinating and making sure the appropriate—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: What? With a dead whale?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: The honourable member just displays his ignorance. When there is a dead whale on the beach, who takes control? Who protects the community? Who makes sure—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: You said it was the local government's responsibility.

The PRESIDENT: No debate across the chamber. The minister is on his feet.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Of course but, in a real-world situation, the people on the ground go out and make the early determinations and make sure the public safety is looked after, and that's exactly what happened. Of course, we brought in the appropriate authorities. We also brought in the appropriate support that was on offer from the community through ERM and also brought in the experts from SA Museum, and that's what we always do. We always put the public risk at the top of our agenda before we worry about any of the internals, because that's what a responsible government does.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Ridgway has a supplementary.