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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-07-26 Daily Xml
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KLEMZIG GROUNDWATER TESTING

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (15:11): My question is to the Minister for Environment and Conservation. Will the minister confirm that, when the Premier said this morning that the people were informed about the environmental contamination at Klemzig, he was referring only to the registered bore owners and that no other people in the immediate vicinity were advised of any potential problem? Can the minister also confirm whether the 14 people whose registered bores were not in use were given any details of the contamination?

Honourable members: Good questions.

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water) (15:11): If they are, you didn't think of them. I thank the honourable member for her question. I will start off by saying this: as I understand it, an FOI application was made by the opposition, in particular the—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: You asked a question. Do you want hear the answer or not? I know that you are struggling—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: I know that you are struggling with your own issues, but I will just ignore the interjections and answer the question. What I will be attempting to do is put some things in context. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition made an FOI application. I understand that that FOI application was processed on 12 July, and, given a day's postage, I guess it would have got to him on 13 July. Madam Speaker, they sat on it for 12 days. If they indeed thought there were any health risks associated with this, with respect to residents, you would have thought that—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: —they might have raised that issue a bit before the day we returned to parliament. I am very satisfied with the way this particular matter has been handled.

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: Well, I'm satisfied with the way this has been handled. I'm not satisfied with the way you have handled yourself, because you have been—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: Madam Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition has been totally reckless, totally irresponsible. We now have people in the Klemzig area who, because of the actions of the opposition leader, are even questioning whether or not the water coming out of their taps is safe to drink. It is just irresponsible.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: I have provided them in a ministerial statement; I won't go over that. At 35 O.G. Road, a former smallgoods site, was tested—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: 'Yes or no.' There was—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for Bragg!

The Hon. P. CAICA: The EPA was notified of contamination on that particular site. Testing was done. Testing showed that there were levels well in excess of what is expected from the groundwater there as it relates to benzene in particular—hydrocarbons. As a result of that, a decision was made to spread that testing out to registered bore owners. There were 17, as we said, within that particular area, four of which were operational. All 17 bore owners were doorknocked the day after, I was advised, on 17 August, and all but four of those bores were not any longer in use or not accessible.

As a result of that, the four bores were tested, and three of them had no level of contamination identified with respect to the substance being tested and one had some fractions of hydrocarbons. Every step of the way the owners of the four bores that were tested were advised.

Quite simply, what were we going to advise other people of? Quite simply, there was no contamination, there is no contamination and there is no health scare, and you have been irresponsible—Madam Speaker, not you—the Leader of the Opposition has been irresponsible with respect to—

The SPEAKER: Order! There is a point of order. The member for Finniss.

Mr PENGILLY: 127. The minister is imputing improper motives on the leader.

The SPEAKER: Order! Thank you, I can protect myself.

The Hon. P. CAICA: I am not impugning improper motives. I am stating that they were improper motives, that the Leader of the Opposition is playing base politics—

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order, the member for MacKillop.

Mr WILLIAMS: Is the minister suggesting to the house that the opposition, in raising a matter of important public health—

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: What's your point of order?

Mr WILLIAMS: He is imputing improper motive, 127.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: Madam Speaker, is the minister—

The SPEAKER: Order! Thank you, I understand your point of order. We do have some leverage in here regarding political points of order. Minister, I ask you to get back to the substance of the question, however.

The Hon. P. CAICA: Thank you very much, Madam Speaker, and I will. I would make this point: if, indeed, there were such concerns as are being promoted and promulgated by the opposition at the moment, why did they sit on it for 13 days before raising it? Last time I remember, I think every member of the opposition has my mobile phone number. If there were such concerns, they could have rung me and clarified it. But no. There is some political grandstanding going on here, Madam Speaker, and I am certainly satisfied—

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order.

Mrs REDMOND: The minister is debating the matter instead of answering the question. It was about whether people actually received any information about the contamination other than the four people whose bores they tested.

The SPEAKER: Minister, I ask you to conclude your answer.

The Hon. P. CAICA: Yes, I will wind up, Madam Speaker. Let me put it this way. The Liberal Party policy previously—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for Norwood!

The Hon. P. CAICA: The Liberal Party's policy on these matters, unless it has changed—

The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition.

Mrs REDMOND: It is not up to the minister to discuss our policies. That surely is debate, Madam Speaker.

The SPEAKER: I will uphold that point of order. Minister, conclude your answer.

The Hon. P. CAICA: I will not go there again, Madam Speaker. The four people whose properties were affected because their bores were operational were advised every step of the way. Had there been—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the Leader of the Opposition!

The Hon. P. CAICA: Had there been anything that was worthy of further notification (that is, gone to the next level of communication) as a result of what was found, that would have been done but, quite simply, there was no contamination and there is no contamination. What were we going to tell people?

The SPEAKER: Thank you, minister.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for MacKillop!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Will you stop arguing across the floor, or I will call this question time to a close. The member for Florey.

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