Tarrkarri Centre for First Nations Cultures

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:49): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs questions on Tarrkarri.

Leave granted.

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: Tarrkarri promised to be a world-class facility but has faced significant delays since Labor came into office. The project remains in limbo, causing frustration among stakeholders. Within the media it is considered that the Premier is avoiding making a definitive decision on the project, as is outlined in a recent InDaily article, on 6 February, by Mike Smithson, and I will quote:

…the Premier doesn't have the courage, or perhaps the folly, to officially knock it out of the park and finally put several interested and frustrated parties out of their misery.

The article also noted:

The sensitive notion of 'shooting Bambi' in the lead up to the March 2026 state election is a path the Premier won't be treading as it's a potentially bad look…

My questions to the minister are:

1. What is the government's plan for the future of Tarrkarri?

2. When is it going to start?

3. What advocacy has the minister made in regard to the future of Tarrkarri, or will it have a fate similar to the old Le Cornu site at North Adelaide, where it was bulldozed in the late eighties and the first sod was turned only in 2022?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (14:50): I thank the honourable member for her question. Tarrkarri remains the same as it has been since I was last asked questions—that is, that there is money committed by the state government, money committed by the federal government. But the honourable member talked about a 'world-class facility'. The advice we got pretty quickly on coming to government was the amount that had been budgeted by the former government would not provide a world-class facility. It would provide something that would be of local interest, perhaps some national interest, but certainly not a world-class facility.

As the Premier said, we are still in discussions about finding further outside corporate or philanthropic funding and continuing discussions with the federal government.