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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-03-04 Daily Xml
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STORMWATER INITIATIVES

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop) (15:00): Has the Attorney-General sought expert briefings from a hydrologist working in the Attorney-General's Department on stormwater capture, treatment and re-use, and has he supplied those expert briefings to his colleague the Minister for Water Security?

The Attorney-General rang radio station FIVEaa yesterday during the course of a debate about the treatment, supply and re-use of stormwater. The debate centred on research currently being done by the CSIRO and the Salisbury council on stormwater harvesting and treatment. The Attorney challenged the scientific position of Paul Pavelich from the CSIRO and Colin Pitman, director of Salisbury council's stormwater project team, when he said:

Well, fortunately, I have a hydrologist working for me—

ironically in the Attorney-General's Department—

who says differently.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Water Security.

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD (Chaffey—Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water Security) (15:01): It gives me great pleasure to answer the question from the member for MacKillop, the shadow water security minister—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for MacKillop!

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: —because the issue of stormwater is an important one and it is a very important component of the South Australian government's four-way strategy to water security. The Salisbury local government is to be commended for its work in this area and, in particular, Colin Pitman and former mayor Tony Zappia, who have done an extraordinary job in actually driving a stormwater agenda. Right across the state there have been a number of stormwater projects that have been introduced and invested in, and apparently—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for MacKillop has a point of order.

Mr WILLIAMS: The point of order is one of relevance, sir. The question was specifically about the advice out of the Attorney-General's Department to the Attorney-General.

The SPEAKER: No, there is no point of order. The Minister for Water Security.

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: There is certainly a very strong commitment from this government to stormwater projects. This government established the stormwater authority—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for MacKillop has already been warned once.

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: —on 1 July 2007 to actually coordinate the response—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the deputy leader!

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: —for flood mitigation and stormwater re-use between local government and state government. It is really quite interesting that the commentary from the opposition and others is endeavouring to ensure that this issue of stormwater becomes just a state government issue.

It is not just a state government issue. It is a combined issue of local government, state government and also the federal government. The projects that have been most successful in harvesting and re-using stormwater have been a partnership between local government, state government and federal government.

We continue to enter into those arrangements with our partners to maximise the opportunities for stormwater projects. The Cheltenham Park development is a good example of this, and we recently announced on 5 February that it would include a large wetland and aquifer storage and recovery scheme with the capacity to harvest 1.2 gigalitres of stormwater from the development site. This is a terrific project. We have also provided support for the Water Proofing Northern Adelaide project—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: —which is a fantastic project that the Salisbury council is involved in, and also a number of other local governments including the Playford council and the Tea Tree Gully council. The state government and the federal government are also involved in those projects.

We also have the metropolitan Adelaide stormwater re-use project, which could substitute up to one gigalitre per year of water that would otherwise be drawn from Adelaide's groundwater system. It is another great project. We are also working with the Onkaparinga council in the Water Proofing the South project, and SA Water and other stakeholders will continue to work together to maximise this project. It is estimated that the total value of the stormwater component of that project will be around $14.5 million. We are also investing heavily in the Lochiel Park project. They are terrific achievements that are actually on the ground.

I would like to draw attention to what the Liberal Party promises in elections. I understand from the leader that we do not listen to anything he says in between elections; it is only what they say at election time that counts. Their policy, which was released just before the last election, stated that the Liberal government will 'convene a high-level group to evaluate the alternative water source options, so that by 2009 a plan is in place to remove Adelaide's reliance on the River Murray and water restrictions'. Look at that! What they promised in 2006 was to plan—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for MacKillop!

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: —for a plan by 2009. What we are doing is actually investing in projects. That is the difference between this government and the opposition. They also promised to investigate options for more innovative use of aquifer storage and strengthen the state government's support for local government ASR and water conservation projects. We are already doing it. They are also going to look at exploring all viable alternative supply options such as recycled water for non-potable use. That is what they promised at the last election. They promised to investigate, they promised to explore, and they promised to convene a high-level group to evaluate water options. We are actually doing the job whilst they would still be planning.

The other thing that they promised to do at the last election was to ensure that the management of the River Murray stayed in state hands—state hands. You promised to keep the management of the River Murray in state hands—that is what you promised—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: —so believe what you promise at election time. That is what the leader has told us to do—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: —and we believe it.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The house will come to order! The member for MacKillop is warned a second time. I think the minister has strayed into debate.

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