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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-07-27 Daily Xml
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Adjournment Debate

MINING DEVELOPMENT, YORKE PENINSULA

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (17:27): I wish to refer to the announcement made today by the Minister for Mineral Resources Development about Rex Minerals. I confirm to the house that this project has been known to me for some time, and it would be fair to say that there is somewhat of a mixed reaction from the people of the Yorke Peninsula to it. There is strong relief within the communities that there is an opportunity to diversify the economy of the region which, as I am sure all in this chamber would respect, is very strongly based around agriculture and tourism opportunities, as well as growing aquaculture opportunities.

Rex Minerals has been in the area probably for close to four years. It has been exploring this site and has spent a considerable sum of money. It is my understanding that its intention is to spend in the range of $80 million this calendar year and in 2012 actually proving that the deposit is there. The minister confirmed today that there is 1.5 million tonnes of copper, 1.4 million ounces of gold, and a very strong magnetite deposit on the site as well.

In meeting with some of the farmers, I take very seriously their very strong desire to preserve traditional agriculture. There are adjoining property owners who have fought against any opportunity for Rex Minerals to access their sites to undertake drilling, and I respect their position on this. I have met with them many times and spoken with them many times, and taken their concerns to Rex Minerals, but the overwhelming feeling I get from the community is that people are excited by the chances that Rex Minerals brings to the area.

There is a lot of work to be done between now and then, when they eventually may have the opportunity to start production, but it is exciting for the region because of the associated infrastructure that will come into the area to support this industry, and the opportunities that will create. My briefing late yesterday afternoon from Mr Steve Olsen, Managing Director of Rex Minerals, as a final update before the company went to the Stock Exchange with its announcement today, talks about a significant upgrade to the electricity capacity in that local area, again, at the cost of many millions of dollars.

Significantly, they talk about a really big investment in water infrastructure for the region. For many years, it is water that the region has been calling for to give the opportunity for our communities to grow to their maximum potential. Rex Minerals understands that, and has a strong desire to use water probably equivalent to what the whole region uses per year, in the range of two gigalitres.

Rex Minerals will contribute significant dollars—and I mean significant dollars—to SA Water projects to actually build a trunk main that could potentially supply something like five gigalitres to Yorke Peninsula. That will create tremendous spin-offs for every community around it, so while there is strong recognition by me and people who talk to me about the need to preserve traditional agriculture, there is also excitement about the opportunity that mining will present to diversify the economy.

I am advised by Rex Minerals that the scope of the development is potentially some 13 square kilometres, which represents 0.3 per cent of the agriculturally productive land on the Yorke Peninsula. While I come from a farming background on my mother's side, and within my family on my wife's side, I recognise that what might be seen as a loss from agriculture (the estimate is in the range of up to a million dollars in agricultural production) will be well and truly compensated if this project gets a guernsey and the mining activity takes place.

Rex Minerals talks about, potentially, an investment in the range of $600 million to get to a construction phase. It has told me that, potentially, a thousand people will be needed to work on-site to build the infrastructure that will be required for the initial processing and extraction, with full-time jobs after that (for at least the minimum of 12 years of the life of the mine) for around 650 people.

While I will always try to represent the needs of agriculture in the Goyder electorate, my job is also to talk with people who want to diversify economies. It will be a difficult balance. I respect the comments from the Minister for Mineral Resources Development today about the excitement that he feels for a mine potentially being located in the area. I know that many people in the community who have been concerned about the economic future of their towns see this as an opportunity for their town to have a strong future.

As a member of parliament whose job it is to support communities in any way possible, I see it as my responsibility to try to put both sides of the argument and to make objective assessments about what the community needs to move forward. In this case I think there has to be an opportunity for this mining development to be reviewed strongly—no doubt about that—and for every environmental requirement to be put in place to preserve the uniqueness that Yorke Peninsula represents but also to ensure that we have a chance to diversify our economy. I just wanted to put that on the record.

I want to take a brief moment to reflect upon Mr Rod Gregory. He is South Australia's sole entrant on Australia's Got Talent, and he is called the 'Old Fella'. He is actually a neighbour of mine, down my street in Maitland, and he and his wife Toni built a new house about a year ago. He is a rather unique character and he has only just come to comedy routines in the last couple of years. He has performed around the nation and in a lot of the Adelaide Festival stuff, too—but he has also had a strong commitment to the community for a long time.

He was involved with the hospital board at Maitland for some 27 years. This bloke has a unique nature. In his routine he calls his wife 'Mary'; her real name is Toni. Some of the jokes seem to have a bit of a sexual reference to them, if I can reflect that—he talks about Viagra tablets a bit too often, and that sort of thing.

Mr Pederick: As long as you don't need them!

Mr GRIFFITHS: Exactly. He is a great bloke. I am proud to have him as a neighbour. I spent New Year's Eve with him at his new house when the neighbours all got together. I wish him good luck and I hope that all South Australians decide to vote over the next week on Australia's Got Talent for the 'Old Fella', because it would be fantastic for our state for a local man to win.

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