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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-04-02 Daily Xml
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ADELAIDE CITY COUNCIL

The Hon. L. STEVENS (Little Para) (14:46): One of the most enjoyable events of the recent Festival of Arts, in my opinion, was the Northern Lights exhibition on North Terrace. I visited it on two occasions, with friends, and both times that section of North Terrace was crowded with enthusiastic, interested people. I have spoken previously in the house about how good I believe the changes to North Terrace have been, and certainly I have previously in the house congratulated both the state government and the Adelaide City Council on the partnership that has led to these outstanding results.

I was also pleased to see that the Adelaide City Council has released its strategic vision for the city and, with that, has sought feedback from citizens, whether they live in the City of Adelaide or outside. I brought up its website and looked at some of the matters contained in that vision statement. They start with stating that their vision is of 'Adelaide being a vibrant, prosperous capital city, built upon Adelaide's heritage and lifestyle' and, in particular, they look at a range of categories and particular aspects that they are going to work on, including things such as native fish in the River Torrens; Adelaide's squares (particularly Victoria Square) being significantly changed and reinvigorated; having a concept of Victoria Park being a great urban park; and recycled water coming from the Glenelg area to water the parklands. There was a range of other things and, I think, very interesting things that they have put out for consultation.

I am sure we will get more suggestions from other people, and it is good that this should be the way that such a document is approached. I must say, I was very surprised, then, to see the very smartypants put-downs of the plan by Mike Smithson in a Sunday Mail article on 16 March. He noted that of course he had only had a quick glance at the strategic directions paper of the council, and I might recommend that perhaps he give more than a quick glance at topics that he covers in his articles.

The Hon. S.W. Key: Generally.

The Hon. L. STEVENS: Generally, and specifically in relation to this one. One of the things he said, for instance, was in relation to returning native fish to the Torrens. This is the smartypants comment. He says:

Have these councillors ever taken a stroll along the river between the zoo and the weir? If the plastic bottles, slime and other pollution don't kill the new fish, then the blue-green algae surely will.

What a smartypants remark that was. Does he not know that, for instance, in Germany the river Rhine was one of the most polluted rivers in Europe? It has now been cleaned out and, as an indicator of how that river has been cleaned up, native fish have been returned to it.

I think that this state deserves a media that, first of all, does its homework and, secondly, encourages innovation, encourages ideas and encourages people to be proactive, and not make smartypants remarks—really quick, cheap shots that are not helpful.

One of the reasons that I was pleased to see this was that I have long thought that Adelaide needs to be revamped. I was in Brisbane over the weekend for a family celebration and, again, I could not help but notice just how vibrant and alive the city of Brisbane is. It has a beautiful river going through the centre, which it has made the most of. The Torrens is a very important feature in Adelaide that needs to be revamped. It needs to be cleaned up, it needs the native fish back, and we need to make the most of its surrounds for public recreation, public involvement, for the fun of children, right along the banks of the Torrens, from the Zoo right through to—

The Hon. I.F. Evans: Gumeracha.

The Hon. L. STEVENS: Well, perhaps Gumeracha could be a bit of a stretch for the Adelaide City Council, but certainly from the Zoo right through to Port Road.

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