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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-05-18 Daily Xml
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ADELAIDE PARKLANDS

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (14:53): My question is for the Minister for Infrastructure. Is it the case that Adelaide City Council will be provided with further government funding for the redevelopment of Victoria Square in exchange for the council handing over the Parklands surrounding Adelaide Oval and, if so, will the contribution be additional to the government's $535 million for Adelaide Oval?

The government has announced $535 million for the Adelaide Oval redevelopment, but has also confirmed there will be a further $38 million for the Torrens footbridge, and an undisclosed amount for car parking, and now we understand a further amount will be paid to the Adelaide City Council for an upgrade of Victoria Square.

The Hon. P.F. CONLON (Elder—Minister for Transport, Minister for Infrastructure, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (14:54): I will start by helping out the member here: the proposition that the Adelaide City Council's agreement to this proposal has been brought about in exchange for funding for something else is offensive to this government and offensive to the Adelaide City Council. It is utterly untrue and it is this sort of abuse—these guys talk about abuse of process—they make of this process here.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for MacKillop!

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: If I were a bit more open! Let me say this: in that previous question, the leader of our government, Mike Rann, wonderful man, was absolutely correct. We are not taking Parklands away. An underground car park will be constructed under Adelaide Oval, under the current built form—400 car parks. That is under the current built form of the oval. I do not see any problem with that. We are proposing to license sports to park where parking already occurs. We are proposing to leave other car parking in the hands of the council. The only additional area for car parking will be, as the Premier points out, the possibility of using some land that we will return to open space from the former rail marshalling yards; that is, return to parkland the capacity to park on what is now an unremediated, unattractive sight. We don't apologise for any of that.

What we do know from this question—I think we are starting to get an inkling of the opposition's attitude to this redevelopment. They are going to smear it, they are going to undermine it, and ultimately they are going to have to decide whether they support or oppose it. What we see here is a smearing of the Adelaide City Council and a smearing of us.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: You are just asking; no, you're making—you're just asking!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: Let me just ask then: what were you doing in Darwin when you should have been in Penola with your constituents—I am just asking!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: Let me tell you this: two full meetings with the full council and on no occasion did a councillor raise with us the prospect of swapping something for funding, and on no occasion did we offer that to them. We have had discussions with the council about Victoria Park, about the city, on a range of issues. We have been on the record being supportive of improvements to Victoria Park, but you are not just asking a question, you are slurring the council and you are slurring us, and that is all you have got to offer. That is all you have to offer on Adelaide Oval.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Davenport.

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