Climate Change

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (15:02): My question is to the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation and Climate Change. Will the minister update the chamber on how the government is helping to support our towns and cities to be cooler, greener and more resilient to climate change?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (15:03): I thank the very cool and the very green Hon. Mr Gazzola for his very important question.

The Hon. P. Malinauskas: A good question.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: It's an excellent question. Last month, the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board awarded grants worth more than $710,000 for projects that promote water-sensitive urban design. Water-sensitive urban design is an innovative approach to incorporating whole of water cycle requirements into our towns and cities, including capturing and reusing rainwater to help prepare our communities for hotter and drier summers to come with the challenges of global warming. These grants are funded by the NRM levy.

The NRM board is working with local government and other partner organisations to facilitate the transition to water-sensitive communities by investing the NRM levy in the development and implementation of better water policy research, capacity building for communities and on-ground projects. Transition to water-sensitive communities inherently recognises the value of green infrastructure and incorporates the need to help communities adapt to a change in climate. These funds will be used for projects such as:

footpaths that allow rainwater to soak through, watering street trees and saving 40 million litres of stormwater from going down the drain every year;

car parks that direct rainwater to garden beds;

street trees along Port Road;

establishing a school wetland at St Catherine's primary school;

reusing stormwater to irrigate sport fields; and

installing 85 Treenet inlets to roadside gutters to use more than one million litres of stormwater every year to water street trees.

They are just some of the projects. In total, seven projects received grant funding in this round to make Adelaide greener and cooler through water-sensitive urban design. For the chamber's benefit I want to outline two of the projects that received grant funding in the City of Mitcham, or that general area.

The first project is the water-sensitive urban design street renewal for Kent Street from Cross Road to George Street in Hawthorn. The City of Mitcham is undertaking a complete renewal of Kent Street, including a reconstruction of the road pavement. Drawing from their smart water design strategy, the council has embraced the water-sensitive urban design approach and the resulting road renewal design incorporates rain gardens, permeable paving and passive stormwater street inlets for irrigation of the street trees.

This water-sensitive urban design approach means that street trees will be healthier and will have bigger and denser canopies, which will, of course, provide more shade and local cooling through evaporation in the summertime. The street tree root systems will be very unlikely to cause damage, I am advised, to the roads and footpaths, as the permeable paving discourages shallow roots, encourages deeper rooting and allows the trees to better manage the soil moisture balance within their root zones.

The life of asphalt road surfaces will be extended due to the shading provided by the street trees, as well, and the quality of the stormwater flowing from Kent Street into Brownhill Creek, which crosses under Kent Street, will be significantly improved, and the quantity and frequency of flows will be reduced, helping to protect Brownhill Creek, the Patawalonga and, of course, Gulf St Vincent ultimately.

Local biodiversity will be improved, with a variety of rain garden plants, and the amenity of the street will be improved by the rain garden plants and improve street tree health in those streets. With the City of Mitcham planning to commence construction in November and with the completion planned for January of next year, the local community will begin to see the benefits of this forward-thinking by this council very soon.

Another of the projects funded through these grants is for Angas Road in Hawthorn and Westbourne Park, and aims to quantify the benefits of water-sensitive urban design. In 2015-16, the NRM board supported a broad range of water-sensitive urban design projects in the City of Mitcham, building on their long relationship founded on the shared interest in green infrastructure and WSUD. This included support for the installation of water quality and quantity monitoring equipment in the Angas Road stormwater subcatchment, and the capture of 12 months of data from the subcatchment represented a traditional approach to street tree and stormwater management.

The funding provided for this project represents the next phase for the Angas Road subcatchment and drawing from their smart water design strategy, the council is constructing around 75 passive stormwater street tree irrigation installations throughout the Angas Road subcatchment. The council will then use the water quality and quantity monitoring system established in the first phase to assess the benefits of the Treenet inlets to stormwater management. The Treenet inlets will also ensure that targeted street trees in and around Angas Road will be healthier, with bigger and denser canopies—as I said earlier—and provide more shade and local cooling. The council will also be monitoring tree health and canopy cover.

These projects are fantastic examples of some of the many ways that NRM boards are supporting local governments and local communities, towns and cities to manage water wisely and to plan for climate change by implementing measures that will ensure that we are better prepared for the future. These measures also help to create cooler, greener urban spaces for South Australians to enjoy into the future.

Contrast that with those who are actually not trying to cool things down and are trying to inflame things. I came across a report today that says former state Liberal candidate Peter Gandolfi has confirmed that moderate faction powerbroker Christopher Pyne urged him to stand as an Independent against his own party in the federal seat of Barker in 2013. Commentators, who will remain nameless, of course, said:

One party insider—

that is a Liberal Party insider, I presume—

suggested the revelations could suggest an escalation of a simmering factional feud in SA, sparked by the looming federal redistribution.

This is amazing. Here we have the state government working with local governments and NRM boards trying to cool the city down and we have the member for Sturt, Chris Pyne, indulging in factional warfare, trying to run Independent candidates against Liberal candidates and trying to fan the flames of internal division and disunity in the South Australian branch of the Liberal Party in the lead-up to the state campaign.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Mr Gandolfi, I understand, according to this report at least, did not respond to The Australian other than to stay that he confirmed he did not dispute the account. Mr Pasin also declined to comment, I am advised, in this article, but said he stood by his comments in The Australian, which confirmed he first heard about Pyne’s alleged approach earlier this year. The article states:

The person who told me said, ‘Mate, I’m about to tell you something that is going to rock your world,' he reportedly said.

The person expected me to be shocked—

This is according to Mr Pasin—

but, sadly, I wasn’t shocked because I have witnessed attempts to damage career prospects of young conservatives over a long period of time. I have become all too familiar with this kind of Machiavellian behaviour.

Pyne, who is overseas, apparently told Ms Albrechtsen of The Australian that it is not true. Of course, then you have Liberals coming out of the woodwork, on the basis of anonymity, saying this all happened, and they cannot understand it. 'Party insiders responded angrily to today's revelations', the article says, with one telling InDaily:

You’ve got the Manager of Opposition Business out there trying to actively lose a seat for…[the then leader Tony Abbott] in what turned out to be a hung parliament—it’s just bizarre.

Today's claims, of course, follow a series of very damaging leaks against Mr Pyne in the national media. The article continues:

Last week it was reported he had told a meeting of MPs and party powerbrokers that if his Sturt fortress was abolished in a forthcoming re-draw he would seek preselection in neighbouring Boothby at the expense of 39-year-old first-term factional opponent Ms Nicolle Flint.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: It is remarkable. We in the government here are trying to cool down the temperature of our city, and it looks like the member for Sturt is fanning the flames of disunity and factionalism in the Liberal Party. All I can say is: good luck to him, and I hope he continues it for the next four or five months.