Environmental Decisions

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (15:29): I rise to speak today on a concerning pattern that is emerging under this Marshall Liberal government around the decision-making that concerns the environment. As any community that has been affected by an environmental issue will tell you, a lack of government consultation and care for that community input is not a new phenomenon, but this Marshall Liberal government, and Minister David Speirs in particular, is taking this attitude to new heights, or should I say depths.

At this point I would like to be clear that I have worked, and continue to work, with the minister on many important issues around environmental protection and animal welfare. However, I cannot continue to ignore the overwhelming feedback I am currently receiving from the communities that I represent. There is no shortage of issues where the minister and his department have been either missing in action entirely or where they have been present and have chosen to ignore, or even actively avoid, community feedback when it does not suit them. Let's go through a few examples.

Firstly, the new proposed PFAS dump. We have heard quite a bit about it in this place and in the other place already, but community voices and warnings continue to go unheard and unheeded. As we know, PFAS are manufactured toxins found in paint, pesticides and firefighting foam. They do not break down in the environment and they can travel long distances in water and air. Exposure to PFAS has been linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals, including hormone disruption, high blood pressure and cancers.

Southern Waste Resources Company (SWRC) is seeking an approval to receive, store, treat and dispose of waste contaminated with PFAS at the landfill on Tatachilla Road in McLaren Vale, proximate to Maslin Beach. This is near residential areas, and any leakage of PFAS into the soil, aquifers, ocean and surface water could directly threaten the health and wellbeing of residents. Reputational damage to McLaren Vale's internationally renowned wine region is at stake, as are the residential property prices in surrounding regions, such as Willunga, Maslin Beach and further afield.

Residents are crying out to be heard. To locate this dump so close to grapevines and houses is a ridiculous decision, and the consequences of a leak are dire. In fact, we have recently seen these consequences due to PFAS contamination at the RAAF base in Edinburgh. But is this minister listening? The community are not being heard and are actively being ignored. They are not the only ones convinced that the minister is only interested in those who provide feedback solely in favour of his Marshall Liberal government proposals.

Let's look at the issue of sand mining down at Semaphore and the ongoing sand management of our Adelaide beaches. We are all familiar with the outcry from residents wherever regular sand mining and carting occurs. It is disruptive, it is loud, and of course it is just a bandaid solution. We understand that we must continue to manage our coastlines to preserve our beaches. However, communities feel frozen out of these discussions.

That is not to say that consultation groups do not exist. Indeed, I recognise that the department has three community groups dedicated to this project. However, those community groups have told me that they can only engage within an incredibly narrow frame of reference and that is in terms of discussing a proposed sand pipeline. Residents and local groups have raised concerns that the pipeline is not an effective solution and risks becoming a stranded asset, but their concerns, again, are not listened to, and any engagement that is even slightly opposed to the pipeline is dismissed.

How is this community consultation, when these communities are just as eager as the department, if not more than, to find long-term and workable solutions to the erosion of Adelaide beaches? Locking out these community voices during the decision-making process will have long-term consequences for us all.

Yet another example—I am trying to keep this brief and I could go on—is the minister's fear of listening to the community and indeed listening to other members of parliament when it comes to the current situation and the department's dealing with Adelaide Koala Rescue. I cannot even imagine how the minister has been responding to the members of the community who have raised concerns about Adelaide Koala Rescue's permit situation and premises situation, when he has shut down his Facebook group and has written harsh letters to not only myself but the member for Hurtle Vale, demanding that we not advocate for our constituents.

I think the minister might have another think coming if he thinks that either myself or the member for Hurtle Vale will take kindly to such an approach. If we all put the environment, and indeed animal welfare, first in this place, the way forward is not to ignore communities, is not to shut down your Facebook pages, is not to threaten members of parliament that they cannot advocate for those who come and talk to us; it is to sit down at the table and work with us.