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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-05-03 Daily Xml
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CITY OF ADELAIDE (CAPITAL CITY COMMITTEE) AMENDMENT BILL

Introduction and First Reading

Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (10:32): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the City of Adelaide Act 1998. Read a first time.

Second Reading

Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (10:32): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I am reintroducing the bill due to the proroguing of parliament; I introduced it last year. The Capital City Committee is an intergovernmental partnership aimed at developing the City of Adelaide as the capital city of South Australia. The Parliament of South Australia established the Capital City Committee under the City of Adelaide Act 1998. In that act, in recognition that a thriving capital city is critical to the overall success of the state, the act establishes arrangements for intergovernmental liaison between the state government and the Corporation of the City of Adelaide for the strategic development of the city.

When it was initially brought in, there were three members from council and three from government. It was established by a Liberal government at the time and I believe there has never been a time that the member for Adelaide has not been a member for government, so I see that there is an inherent flaw that perhaps was overlooked when it was started.

The committee's role is one of facilitation and coordination, with formal decisions referred to the state cabinet and Adelaide City Council. Within this role the committee has broad functions to enhance and promote the development of the city with the powers to:

(a) Identify and promote key strategic requirements for the economic, social, physical and environmental development and growth of the City of Adelaide as the primary focus for the cultural, educational, tourism, retail and commercial activities of South Australia.

(b) To promote and assist in the maximisation of opportunities for the effective coordination of public and private resources to meet the key strategic requirements identified by the committee, and recommend priorities for joint action by the state government and the Adelaide City Council.

(c) Monitor the implementation of programs designed to promote the development of the City of Adelaide;

(d) Make provision for the publication (as appropriate) of key strategies, goals and commitments relevant to the development and growth of the City of Adelaide that have been agreed by the parties who are (or will be) required to undertake responsibility for their implementation or delivery; and

(e) Collect, analyse and disseminate information about the economic, social, physical and environmental development of the City of Adelaide, with particular emphasis on assessing outcomes and identifying factors that will encourage and facilitate future development within the City of Adelaide.

These are issues that are not only of broad concern to South Australians, but more importantly they directly relate to and affect the lives of the people living in Adelaide. Inherent in democracy is the role of the member for Adelaide to voice the interests of my electorate. It is not for the government of the day to make decisions about the electorate—especially with regard to heritage buildings, CBD population, shared road use and CBD development—without consideration of the opinions of the affected constituents.

Jay Weatherill in his opening meeting as the chair described the Capital City Committee as holding a 'pivotal role in revitalising the city' and 'reaffirmed the committee's commitment to working together on real change agenda to enliven the City of Adelaide'. The people of Adelaide must also, through their elected member, have a pivotal role in the revitalisation of the city, not just a committee. When we say 'working together', working together includes the actual people who live in the city and their elected representatives, so it is a bit of a farce to have a committee designed around the future of Adelaide without the elected member for Adelaide being a part of the committee. Earlier this week on Tuesday, the Premier made a ministerial statement:

The community expects its government to be open and accountable and should have confidence that decisions its government makes are for the right reasons.

Therefore why can't the elected member for Adelaide be a part of this committee? The member is not even able to be at the committee and, even worse, my office cannot even get copies of the minutes from the committee. They have set up another committee (Adelaide 5000+) which has seven council representatives; that is the Integrated Design 5000+. Four out of the seven councils that are represented are part of my electorate, and I am still not able to access the information nor am I able to be invited to these meetings which I think is a travesty.

All of the topics that are covered are of great concern to me and the people that I represent—for example, things such as the city's safety. I have personally participated in three of the night audits for the West End, the East End, and Gouger and Grote streets and, on behalf of my constituents, that is of great concern. I think that it is only fair that I not only am notified of what is happening in these areas but that I have a voice for my community. I am the person they ring when they have issues, so I am the one who needs to be able to pass on their concerns on their behalf.

The city activation, which is also a function of this committee, is concerned with residential buildings and conversions, public realm interventions and activating Adelaide's buildings. Every time the council or the government puts out a plan, whether it is the local heritage listings or the new development plans for the city, it is my office that people call to try to understand and make sense of what is going on. I should be part of this so that I can pass on that information.

All of the festivals in Adelaide are discussed through the Capital City Committee. They affect the residents who I represent. Again, it is my office they ring when they are concerned about noise issues, the road blocks, the Adelaide 500 and moving out of their homes during the time period, so I should be part of that committee that knows immediately—not after the fact, but when it is happening—so that I can put forward their views and their concerns.

There is also another function of this committee which is to provide a watching brief on initiatives and major projects that are happening in and around the City of Adelaide. These include the Adelaide Oval. As we know, the Adelaide Oval and the Royal Adelaide Hospital site were two big issues at the last election, and clearly the residents of Adelaide were not happy with the government's plan for the Adelaide Oval and the Royal Adelaide Hospital or it would not have had a 14.7 per cent swing against its sitting member.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson: But the rest of the state was happy.

Ms SANDERSON: No, they weren't. Issues concerning the Adelaide Oval are, again, issues that are called into my office continually, namely, the destruction of the seating in the latest stadium where we saw all the chairs and everything falling out of the building. In respect of the lack of access to footpaths, areas and monuments around Adelaide Oval, it is my office they contact, so it is important that I am part of all this and that I am informed of what is going on so that I can inform my constituents.

The issues also cover things such as the Royal Adelaide Hospital, the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, the Riverbank (again), the Convention Centre, the Festival Centre, the Intercontinental and the Casino. These are things that directly affect the people living in my electorate. Workers and business owners also contact me about Rundle Mall, Victoria Square, public transport (another huge issue that is continually called into my office) and Victoria Park, about which I get many calls a week.

Again, it is extremely important that I am informed of what is going on and that I am part of those discussions and can provide feedback on behalf of the residents as to how their lives are affected directly by these decisions. I also mention the Urban Forest, the Parklands Master Planning, the UniSA City West Campus expansion and even the Bowden Urban Village.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson: That's not in your electorate.

Ms SANDERSON: They are all things that affect the people in my electorate because, as the member for Croydon would know, the Liberal policy is to build a second campus for Adelaide High on the Bowden Urban Village to accommodate the students in Prospect and Walkerville who, for 10 years of a Labor government, have been denied a suitable high school in a suitable location. I think that it is basically a common-sense piece of legislation. It is obvious that the member for Adelaide should be part of a committee the basic role of which is to determine outcomes for the people who live in the City of Adelaide and for the future of the city. I commend this bill to the house.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mrs Geraghty.

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