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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-11-27 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

YORKE PENINSULA

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (15:08): I wish to talk about two events or activities that have taken place on Yorke Peninsula (an area that I represent) in recent months. The first involves minister Caica, for which I thank him, and it relates to broadband. Yorke Peninsula has been quite aggressive in this respect, and 19 August this year was a great day for the peninsula when Stephen Conroy, the federal minister, and minister Caica were both at Minlaton on Yorke Peninsula to officially launch the broadbanding of Yorke Peninsula project.

It was the result of a lot of hard work that brought us to that day, and it had stemmed from a need within local government to at least be able to communicate between the four offices and the fact that Telstra, which had been contacted numerous times, unfortunately, was not very willing to invest in the infrastructure that we needed to have broadband available on the peninsula.

However, through the availability of federal and state government grants and also a significant contribution from the Yorke Peninsula council (and I pay tribute to the elected members who were brave enough to make the decision), and primarily because of the fact that a company by the name of Agile Internode was chosen to undertake the project and also invested money, Yorke Peninsula is now one of the very few regions in South Australia and across the nation that has such wide-ranging coverage for broadband.

It was not an easy decision to make for all the parties. In total, since 2004, some $2.75 million of federal and state government funding support was provided for it. I put on the record the fact that Simon Hackett, as Director of Agile Internode, has always been a passionate supporter of telecommunication opportunities within regional South Australia, and what the company has done in the Coorong area of the state has also been very well received. He drove his staff, and they were quite magnificent in ensuring the best possible coverage.

There were some issues about the funding available for connections to individual homes. Minister Caica took a lead role, and I know that, when the Liberals were in power, he flew to Sydney one day with his chief of staff to talk to the federal representatives about it. The situation improved, and I congratulate all those involved.

Certainly, during estimates this year, when I asked the minister about the number of connections, he could tell me that, at that stage, there were some 788 connections on Yorke Peninsula, which is outstanding. I know that a lot of other areas in the state also want to move forward to that. This shows that when the people doing the connections, the community who want to purchase the service and local, state and federal governments work together, some wonderful outcomes can be achieved. Well done to all those involved.

The second issue I want to raise in the brief time I have is an area of concern because it is creating considerable angst in the community, and it relates to a development proposal for Owen Terrace in Wallaroo. I am not sure whether members of the house have noted this issue, but it has been reported in the media, certainly in the local press, and it is also been on radio quite a bit.

The council and the community recognised that the central business district part of Wallaroo was in need of redevelopment, and they developed a vision for it. It is currently used as a bowling club and a croquet club, and everyone recognised that there was opportunity to move those clubs near to the golf course. Luckily, they managed to attract some $250,000 from the Australian Water Fund—a Liberal coalition government initiative—to assist with saving water. They are using the money to replace the greens with synthetic greens and, by using those funds to contribute towards redeveloping the golf club, everybody wins.

Importantly, some would say that the proposal to redevelop the area from recreational use to a commercial zone has really divided the community. A public meeting was held in September, which was attended by 500 people who, it is fair to say that, whilst supporting the development, did not want the proponents selected by the council to undertake it. It is important that I put on the public record that council sought expressions of interest from a wide range, and I know that they received six. My understanding is that five were seriously interviewed and, from those, one was chosen. During this time, some negotiation occurred about the level of financial return to the council for the transfer of the land, which in turn was to be used to relocate the croquet club and the bowling club.

It is important that we understand that the community is upset. I respect enormously the fact that people should be able to express opinions. There are people on the Copper Coast who want the development; there are some who do not. Everybody wants the development to occur; it just depends on who is chosen. The developers who have been chosen have Woolworths as their core tenant, whereas Foodland has been in the community for many years, and there is no doubt that it has been a tremendous sponsor of the Wallaroo community. So, a difficult decision has been reached.

My great fear is that this is creating tensions between people who have been friends for many years. I hope that we all manage to move forward. I know that this matter has been the subject of debate in the other place, and last night a notice of motion was considered for an investigation to be undertaken by the Ombudsman.

Time expired.

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