Regional Toilet Facilities

The Hon. J.S. LEE (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:48): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development about regional toilet facilities.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: On 24 April, The Advertiser reported that a lack of toilets at the popular Little Blue Lake swimming hole on the Limestone Coast has resulted in an appalling and unhygienic situation that is repulsing locals and visitors to the region. There have been documented reports about large amounts of human excrement in and around the popular tourist destination and the District Council of Grant has advised that any toilet development would have to be installed on Crown land. My questions to the minister are:

1. Has the Minister for Regional Development, and with her personal interest in the South-East, undertaken any direct advocacy to help the District Council of Grant resolve this disturbing issue?

2. Can the minister explain whether the District Council of Grant is able to access the Thriving Communities Program, which is a part of the Thriving Regions Fund, to fund the urgent toilet facilities development at Little Blue Lake?

3. If so, when will the Thriving Communities Program be opened again this year?

4. Will the minister make a commitment to fast-track the process to open the Thriving Communities Program as soon as possible or find an alternative solution to solve the problem for the Limestone Coast community?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:50): I thank the honourable member for her question. It certainly is so that there have been media reports about the unacceptable situation around Little Blue Lake. Members may or may not be aware that it's a very popular destination. Contrary to the Blue Lake, which is the source of drinking water, Little Blue Lake is somewhere you can actually go and swim and dive.

I have had discussions with the local council about this and they indicated the actions that they were already taking. Some of the complexity is around the care and control and ownership of the land, in that one part is under the control of council, but I think where the car park is, if I remember correctly, is Crown land—something along those lines. At this stage, they haven't asked me for any direct advocacy. From memory, they were already in discussions with another minister about this.

In terms of the Thriving Communities grants and whether this could potentially fall under that, I will have to check the guidelines. I may be able to do that during this question time and bring back an answer during this question time in regard to whether that's something that could be considered.