Question Time

Gawler River Flooding

The PRESIDENT: I now call on questions without notice. The Hon. Mr Ridgway.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I thought after weeks off you would have come to your senses instead of peddling that rubbish—

The PRESIDENT: Order! Just ask your question.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: —and you shouldn't listen to Kevin Norton. That's my advice, you shouldn't listen to Kevin Norton.

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:33): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Water and the River Murray questions regarding flooding in Virginia.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: On 4 October, the Minister for Agriculture was interviewed on ABC 891 radio advising that flood and water infrastructure was responsible for the Gawler River breaking its banks in November 2005. The minister continued to confirm on radio that the Gawler River broke its banks in a completely different location in the 2016 floods. Yet the residents of the local region advise that the Gawler River broke its banks at the same location in 2005 and 2016, and that the infrastructure of the river needs to be reviewed for safety and the protection of residents and businesses as the region has already accumulated over $30 million worth of damage. My questions to the minister are:

1. Can the minister advise where the Gawler River broke its banks in 2016 and was it the same location as the 2005 Gawler River floods?

2. Will the minister confirm that his colleague the Minister for Agriculture was wrong about this statement on radio?

3. What investment strategy will the government implement to protect the residents and businesses affected by floods in the Gawler and Virginia regions?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (14:35): I thank the honourable member for his most important questions. In effect, what he is doing in asking those questions is asking us to congratulate the Minister for Agriculture in another place for his swift response in relation to these issues. He was quite right, of course, on radio. I think I can refer to the Local Government Act section 7(d) and section 7(f) which state:

(d) to take measures to protect its area from natural and other hazards and to mitigate the effects of such hazard;

Section 7(f) states:

(f) to provide infrastructure for its community and for development within its area (including infrastructure that helps—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: The old punt, the handpass again.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: It's legislation that presumably you voted on and passed, the Hon. Mr Ridgway. You might want to say that parliament has handpassed it but I think it is more appropriate to say that parliament has given appropriate powers to the appropriate authority. But let me just continue at 7(f):

(f) to provide infrastructure for its community and for development within its area (including infrastructure that helps to protect any part of the local or broader community from any hazard or other event, or that assists in the management of any area);

It is pretty clear, I think, what the intent of parliament was in formulating that piece of legislation. Again, I congratulate the Hon. Mr Ridgway on correctly getting the facts right by reporting the comments by the Minister for Agriculture in the other place, who is usually more on the ball than the Hon. Mr Ridgway usually is. In fact, that would not be very difficult; the Hon. Mr Ridgway is hardly ever on the ball.

With regard to the Gawler River floodplain management zone, I understand that six councils have formed the Gawler River Floodplain Management Authority. I understand—and read in the media today, I think it was, in fact in The Advertiser at page 15—that they have brought their group back together again to consider what further measures they need to take, with, of course, support from funding from the state government and the NRM board and through the Stormwater Management Authority and of course local councils. They did build the infrastructure named the Bruce Eastick flood mitigation dam.

They have invested in quite a considerable amount of research on the floodplain, mapping the plain, and doing the historical research in terms of flooding, and the next step of course is for them to put together proposals of appropriately engineered infrastructure that will be approved in due course by the SMA should it be sufficient to deal with the issues on the Gawler River floodplain, and that they are matters that the councils have sought to pursue together as a collective, and that is exactly what they should be doing and I congratulate them for that.

They now need to get on and make an approach to the Stormwater Management Authority for the funding that state government makes available matching funding from the local government to build that infrastructure. Part of it is done, part of the background research is done and now we need to see them get on and do the rest that is required.