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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-09-06 Daily Xml
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OUTER HARBOR GRAIN TERMINAL

Mr VENNING (Schubert) (16:35): I raise a matter of very serious concern today and that is the damaged shiploader at Outer Harbor. I declare upfront that I have an interest in this matter because I am a state MP and farmer and, as a farmer, I am therefore a shareholder in Viterra. Apparently there was a malfunction of the unloader on 16 July. It was repaired but six days later on 22 July it broke, collapsed, destroyed itself—I am not sure what, as this whole issue has been subject to total secrecy with no photos and no detail.

This $150 million state-of-the-art deep sea grain terminal is only 30 months old and has had significant government support over many years, so to realise it is badly damaged and rumours are telling us it will be out of order until at least after Christmas is very concerning indeed. I am amazed we are not hearing more about this from the government. I note the answer the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries gave to the question from the Hon. Jing Lee in the other place yesterday. It highlighted the problems more than it actually answered and there were no real assurances there. The Hon. Minister Gago said that Viterra has reported that the breakdown is not expected to impact on grain growers. Well, we know that it already has.

Apparently 6,000 tonnes of grain has had to be moved by road from Gladstone to Port Giles; that is 120 large trucks at least going down the already poor road—and the member for Goyder would know—on the eastern side of Yorke Peninsula which is not designed for or expected to take such loads as this. The minister also stated that Viterra will revert to managing grain exports and use two-port loading. We really do have a problem in that the only two ports that we can top up ships that are part-loaded apart from Port Adelaide (Inner Harbor) are Port Giles and Port Lincoln and neither have a rail link on them, or at least a link that would allow grain transfer from the east, in Port Lincoln's case. There is little or no grain at Giles so they would have to cart it there, and the situation at Lincoln is not clear as to the amount of grain or whether they have the type or quality to top up the cargo from the eastern part of our state.

Also the extra cost of two-port loading is immense. Who will pay the bill? Will insurance cover this or will it come back to farmers as an extra charge? Who will repair the road? Much more grain will have to be trucked to Port Giles. Who pays this extra freight at $30 to $40 per tonne? The 6,000 tonnes that have already been lifted have a freight bill of a quarter of a million dollars. There is great concern at the amount of last season's grain that is still in our silos, near the highest demand, at Gladstone, Port Pirie and especially Wallaroo where I am told it is still three-quarters full.

As a farmer of longstanding, it is always good assurance to know that there is maximum space available the week before harvest starts, as the member for Flinders would know. It is likely to begin in one month from now, peaking in mid-November, and we should hopefully have a good year. In two months it will be peaking. There will be no time to do too much but we really want answers to these questions. Apparently SafeWork have been involved with this. Are they causing delays? Can we get access to their report? What happened? Did someone lose the remote control and overfill the vessel and block it all up? Is it as simple as that?

As members know, my brother Max is a director of Viterra. I contacted him as soon as I heard about this and he knows no more than the rest of us. It is an operational matter, no management, he said. He then expressed concern at SafeWork's involvement. Can you as an MP get a copy of their report? Apparently not. Any photos? No. Any explanations? No. End of discussion. It has been very difficult for him as a farmer to be silenced because he is a director on a matter like this. All I know is rumour and hearsay. I wonder if Mr Vincent Tremaine of Flinders Ports would know more.

This highlights a strategic problem we have in South Australia. We only have one deep sea port east of the Gulf. We really do need a second—say, Wallaroo North, Tickera or, more importantly, Myponie Point where the deep water is. The extra costs and heartache this breakdown is causing would go a long way towards building a new deep sea facility at Myponie Point and link it to the rail system. It is a greenfield site and has been purchased for this reason by person or persons and bodies unknown.

This single piece of machinery controls the single most important income earner for South Australia. It is broken and we do not have any palatable or economical options. This issue is urgent and the government is silent. We want at least three of the ministers involved to make comment and assure all South Australians this is all in hand and manageable. Is Viterra really doing enough? Is it allowed to do enough? How many ships have been diverted away from South Australian ports? So many questions, no answers, nothing. Where are the new owners, Glencore, in all this? Not a sound.

As a state MP, a farmer and a shareholder, I declare we want more answers. I raise this as a matter of great concern. I also hope that before we come back on 18 September we will have good rain across our state; the north and west of our state are very dry. The crops are crying out for good rain. In the meantime, the South Australian government must provide the people of South Australia with a timetable for the completion of repairs for the shiploader at Outer Harbor.

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