Tarrkarri Centre for First Nations Cultures

The Hon. J.S. LEE (14:54): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Leader of the Government about Tarrkarri.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: The state government launched its long-awaited cultural policy titled 'A Place to Create' on Monday 31 March 2025; however, this 10-year plan does not contain one single reference to the Tarrkarri Centre for First Nations Cultures. On 31 March, InDaily quoted the Hon. Peter Malinauskas as saying that 'the Tarrkarri dream for us is still alive' and that the Premier noted that additional funding partners were needed before progress could be made. The government still has not released the findings of the review undertaken into the Tarrkarri project and the Premier has alluded to 'not insignificant' agreements with private funders, but has not released any details.

According to the opinion piece in InDaily on 6 February 2025, the site of the planned Tarrkarri project has been described as a 'dust bowl' and a 'political stain' for the Premier, with significant delays and cost blowouts causing frustration among stakeholders. My questions to the Leader of the Government are:

1. Given that the work on Tarrkarri has been on hold since October 2022 and the high-level review was handed to the state cabinet two years ago in April 2023, why was Tarrkarri completely omitted from the 'A Place to Create' 10-year cultural policy released last month?

2. When will the government release the findings of the review to make a commitment to the South Australian public about its plans to either progress or shelve the Tarrkarri project?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (14:56): I thank the honourable member for her question and her interest in this area. I think much of the answer to the question the honourable member helpfully gave as part of her very extensive and well thought out question.

The honourable member outlined some of the comments the Premier has made in relation to the fact that this project is still alive but is needing more support. I have said in this chamber before that, upon coming to government, the advice the government received was that what was planned would be a project that would be of some state interest and perhaps national interest but certainly not on the scale that would attract international interest, and that is something the government is keen on investigating. As the honourable member said, the project is still alive but work continues on looking for further funding, whether that be federal government funding or philanthropic or private sector funding.