Adelaide Parklands

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL (15:27): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation a question about Adelaide Parklands protection.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL: The O-Bahn is one of Adelaide's most important public transport services, and the government has long been considering how to improve its efficiency. Getting commuters into and out of the city faster by bypassing congested road junctions is a sound objective. However, the O-Bahn City Access project announced on 25 February has raised the ire of many South Australians because it proposes a new road through Rymill Park. Despite the proposed land swap that will see Rundle Road closed and returned to Parklands, there is still a great deal of concern about the impact of the new road on Rymill Park, one of the jewels in the crown of the Adelaide Parklands, which are also listed on the National Heritage Register.

In 2005, this parliament passed the Adelaide Park Lands Act. In that act, the parliament made sure that proposed new developments in the Parklands would go through a thorough process of public consultation which would not be able to be circumvented by measures such as major project declarations or crown development processes. In closing the second reading debate on the Adelaide Parklands bill, the then minister for environment and conservation, the Hon. John Hill, said:

The issue of whether or not new roads could be created was raised by the member for Morphett. I can assure him this legislation does not allow new roads. If the government wanted to put a new road through it would have to introduce legislation to achieve that, and I think that is the appropriate thing.

I thank the minister. In spite of those provisions, the government, two weeks ago, gazetted proposed changes to the City of Adelaide development plan which provide that new roads could indeed be put through the Parklands, not only without parliamentary approval but also without any public consultation. Under the provisions of the proposed DPA, new roads will be category 1 developments and the Development Assessment Commission will not be required to advertise or consult the community before granting approval. My questions of the minister are:

1. Was former environment minister John Hill wrong when he told the parliament that new roads through the Parklands required parliamentary approval?

2. As minister responsible for the Adelaide Park Lands Act, were you consulted and did you agree with the planning minister's Parklands zone DPA?

3. As the responsible minister, will you ask your colleagues, the planning minister and the transport minister, to negotiate in good faith with the Adelaide City Council, public transport users and relevant community groups to seek an O-Bahn solution that does not degrade Adelaide's Parklands?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (15:30): I thank the honourable member for his very lengthy question. I won't be engaging with him with his tricksy lawyer tricks of saying: 'Was the minister wrong when they said this?' And, 'Are you wrong?' The Hon. Mr Lucas is picking up those bad habits that the Hon. Mr Wade and the Hon. Mr Parnell—

The Hon. G.E. Gago: Have taught him.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: —have taught him, that's right. Shame on you both. Mr President, I have to say, I am quite astonished at people in this place standing up for a small group of people who have no understanding of commuters who use the O-Bahn every single day. This project has the potential to take 30 minutes travel time off—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Thirty minutes travel time off—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Mr President, if they don't want to hear the answer that is up to them, but this will take up to 30 minutes travel time off peak hour travel experiences for people living along the O-Bahn track. They don't care about them, Mr President. They don't care about them one jot. This will take buses off of Dequetteville Terrace, buses off of North Terrace, so that cars don't have to bank up behind lines and lines of buses holding up traffic flow, but they don't care about that either. They don't care about the residents of the northeast of Adelaide. They don't care about people in Modbury. They don't care about people in Klemzig. They don't care about people in Paradise or Campbelltown. They don't give a damn about that. Well, I can tell them one thing for sure: we do.