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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-11-10 Daily Xml
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GOYDER INSTITUTE FOR WATER RESEARCH

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON (Croydon) (14:23): I ask the Minister for Water: what is the Goyder Institute for Water Research doing to improve water management and security?

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water) (14:23): I thank the member for Croydon for his very important question and acknowledge his keen interest in all aspects of science, including political science. South Australia's new $50 million Goyder Institute for Water Research is embarking on a suite of new projects to help the state secure and manage its water future. The state government its providing $25 million over five years for the Goyder Institute, which will be matched in kind by the CSIRO, the University of South Australia, the University of Adelaide and Flinders University.

The highest priority water issue facing South Australia at the moment is the development of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. As everyone would be aware, the guide to the proposed plan was released last month and as a state we will need to ensure that the final plan will meet South Australia's imperatives from an environmental, social and economic perspective. This is why we have engaged the Goyder Institute to undertake an independent scientific review of the guide to the proposed plan. This included a very valuable science forum, which was held last Friday. This forum brought together the leading scientists from the Goyder Institute partners to formulate a science-based perspective on the guide to the proposed plan.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: I beg your pardon?

The SPEAKER: Member for MacKillop, wait your turn for a question.

The Hon. P. CAICA: Madam Speaker, I appreciate very much that the disorderly nature of the deputy leader was pointed out. I am not going to be disorderly by responding to his tardiness. The government will use this information to feed into a wider policy response on the guide and the potential impacts that it will have on South Australians. It is very important work. As I have said previously, what we are seeking is a bipartisan approach with the opposition with respect to this state's response to that very important guide and the subsequent development of the draft plan.

Most members would be aware that South Australia is the national leader in the re-use of stormwater and treated effluent, with most of the pioneering science on aquifer storage and recovery utilising stormwater coming out of the work conducted in our state. Building on this existing level of expertise, the Goyder Institute is supporting a major national research project that uses Adelaide as a case study to analyse alternative options for stormwater use in Australia by using managed aquifer storage and recovery. This project would consider alternative non-potable and potable use—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: Madam Speaker, I am not going to respond to his disorderliness.

An honourable member: You already are.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: No, I'm not. I have not responded at all. It will evaluate all public health concerns and risks associated with each option and develop a cost preliminary risk management plan to protect human health, the environment and our water supply infrastructure.

The Goyder Institute will also invest $1.06 million in this $6.65 million project, with the National Water Commission investing $1.7 million and the CSIRO a further $1.55 million. Other funding partners include the University of Adelaide, the University of South Australia, the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board, and the Salisbury council. The government's stormwater task force will also be considering this research and the output from the work as it develops a proposed stormwater strategy.

Other priority projects currently being developed by the Goyder Institute include identifying new water sources to underpin mining development in the Far North of South Australia, investigating the response of wetland ecosystems in the South-East to water availability, and developing an agreed set of climate projections for South Australia, including, importantly, providing climate change projections for the Greater Adelaide region. I will provide more information on these exciting projects as they are further developed.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: I know that you are sitting on the edge of your seat, that's right.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: That was support.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: I take this opportunity to thank the Chair of the Goyder Institute board, Dr Ian Chessell—an outstanding South Australian—and all the Goyder Institute partners for the highly collaborative approach they have taken to the establishment and early operations of the Goyder Institute. The Goyder Institute is already up and running and is well on the way to making a significant and lasting contribution to improving South Australia's water future as it complements other significant water initiatives undertaken by the Rann Labor government that will in turn benefit South Australians for generations to come. Again, I eagerly await the bipartisan support of the opposition on projects such as I have described.

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