City of Adelaide Expiation Fees

The Hon. S.L. GAME (14:33): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before directing a question to the Hon. Clare Scriven, representing the Minister for Local Government, regarding the City of Adelaide council's expiation fees.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.L. GAME: At its January meeting, following questions from elected member Henry Davis, it was revealed that the City of Adelaide has budgeted to collect $10.3 million in parking fines in the 2024-25 financial year, representing a 61.8 per cent increase from 2022-23, when it collected $6.3 million. That same meeting heard that, during that timeframe, the council employed seven new parking inspectors dedicated to issuing expiation notices.

The City of Adelaide council is also about to open public consultation on 21 February on a proposal to reduce car parking along Hutt Street from 131 spaces to 57 spaces and has recently floated a plan to cut speed limits across the CBD to 30km/h. My questions to the Minister for Local Government are:

1. Given the exponential increase in parking fines being issued in the Adelaide CBD and the City of Adelaide's other proposed anti-vehicle policies, does the minister concede the council's actions are working against the government's stated aim of ensuring the Adelaide CBD remains a healthy, vibrant retail precinct?

2. Will the government commit to addressing this clear trend of action with the council, reminding it that, as the heart of the state's retail and hospitality sector, the Adelaide CBD must be protected from its clear overreach and increasingly imbalanced policies regarding vehicles in the CBD?

3. Will the government remind the council that those impacted businesses are ratepayers and need to remain profitable in order to employ hundreds and thousands of South Australians?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:35): I am happy to refer that to the minister in the other place and bring back a response.