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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-09-22 Daily Xml
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STORMWATER INITIATIVES

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop) (15:14): My question is to the Minister for Water Security. Why should South Australians again be showering with buckets to save water when the government yesterday allowed eight gigalitres of water to run out to sea?

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: Sir, I simply point out that he has not been here long, I know, but he needs to ask his questions through the chair.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The question does need to be asked through the chair, for future reference, member for MacKillop.

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD (Chaffey—Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water Security) (15:15): Once again, the state government has a very comprehensive strategy for water security for the state. It is a strategy which extends to 2050 and includes many diverse sources of water, one of which is stormwater. This government is very supportive of and in fact is committed to stormwater re-use in this state. Stormwater re-use is a very important part of the future water security of this state.

As I identified before, we currently have a number of projects up with the commonwealth for it to consider for investment in many stormwater projects to enhance what has been already been done in this state. Once again, we must do this in partnerships. The councils, together with the state government and the federal government, will continue to invest in stormwater and will continue to build on the terrific work of the Salisbury council, the Playford council, the Tea Tree Gully council and also the many other councils that are carrying out work in this area.

The stormwater authority is a great partnership. The only people who do not seem to be on the same page in this—and I must admit that Colin Pitman even suggested that the state government is on the same page in relation to investing in stormwater. Colin Pitman is part of the stormwater authority, and he was part of the steering committee that did the work that underpinned the state government's decision to include stormwater in our Water for Good strategy. In fact, Colin Pitman was on the steering committee of the consultancy that was let to say exactly how much water could be harvested and what was feasible.

I will tell you what we have done. We are constructing a desalination plant at a cost of over $1.8 billion, which will secure an independent-of-rainfall source of water for this state.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: That is what this state government is doing. This state government—

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: I rise on a point of order, Mr Speaker. I just wonder whether it is appropriate for a useless, empty vessel to be sitting on the opposition front bench. It is over there next to the blue bucket: it is just there next to the blue bucket.

The SPEAKER: I will let that one go.

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: I think it is quite laughable when you think about the kind of strategies that the opposition has. Members of the opposition say that they will invest in stormwater—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: Let me quote for you what Professor Peter Dillon said on ABC Radio last week, when he was questioned about the possibility of stormwater for potable use. What opposition members will do is put it straight into our drinking water now. That is what they have said they are going to do.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: I do not know. That is what they keep telling people out there; that we should be using stormwater for potable uses right now. That is what I have heard them say over and over again. Professor Dillon, who is one of the authors of the much quoted CSIRO report that the opposition and, in particular, the member for MacKillop, uses—

The Hon. J.D. Lomax-Smith: Misquoted.

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: Well, misquoted. Professor Peter Dillon said on ABC Radio last week, 'We're not there yet. We've got some research—'

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: He was talking about the recharge project and the bottled water he was taking to Canberra. He said:

We're not there yet...We've got some more research to do to demonstrate this can be used as a safe drinking water supply on an ongoing basis. I think we've got about three years' research in front of us to be able to do that.

Three years. What members of the opposition would do is either put it into our drinking supplies now before that research is concluded and put at risk public health or they would put off doing anything until that research was completed. Obviously, the opposition is not serious about water. It has never been serious about water. It is not serious about the investment it would put into water. This government is serious about it. We have a strategy, we have a plan and we are investing in that plan.

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