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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-11-29 Daily Xml
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ROBIN BRIDGE

Mr VENNING (Schubert) (15:31): I wish to report to the house that I, with assistance, have painted the Robin Bridge in Nuriootpa. I noted the response today from the minister in this house, and that actually proves the very point I am trying to make. Yes, I am the first to realise this action is irregular, to say the least, not authorised or sanctioned by the body responsible for this bridge (the state Labor government). After pushing the government to do it for over four years, out of frustration I carried out this unusual act.

I know I have failed to carry out many things, and I have been reminded of that. I inform the house that we wore respirators, laid down groundsheets, hand sanded it, and sucked up the dirt and the dust with an industrial vacuum cleaner. Most of the dust was mould and grit. Hardly any paint was left on the bridge. We ended up with about a cupful of dangerous material, which has been burnt. I did fail, and have been reminded that I failed, to:

have a lead-trained responsible person on site at times with the authority to shut down the site at their call at any time;

have only lead-trained people do the works;

have a detailed lead management system such as the PCCP level 5 A system;

have a detailed site-specific lead plan that shows soil sampling, sediment sampling, air monitoring and water sampling details (do before and after on a number of these, send these away for third party testing and auditing);

have exclusion zones clearly marked out around the site; and

have wash facilities for all the workers on site within the area.

In addition:

All workers need to have a blood test before the project and after the project. If the project goes longer than four weeks, have works tested every four weeks.

All works need to be encapsulated and there needs to be a negative air pressure within the encapsulation to stop dust leaving the encapsulation. Proper HEPA filtration system to be used, not an industrial vacuum cleaner.

EPA needs to be notified before works start, for possible inspection of the work site, plus you need to have a mobile EPA licence.

End of that. Yes, I did not do any of this. We wore safety gear and we collected the dust. It was no more than a cupful. No wonder government jobs are continually blowing their budget. What a massive overkill this would have been.

We looked at the situation and assessed it, realising that every day for the last 10 years there has been leaded paint falling into the river under that bridge, what was left. Do not come and tell me that it fell into the river, and I heard what the minister just had to say. As the house knows, the Hansard record shows that it was after questioning the Minister for Transport on this project some six months ago with the following argy-bargy. I was challenged by another senior government minister in here that I could afford it, 'So you do it,' and I said, 'Okay, I will,' and now I have. I was hoping the government may come in and cut my lunch and do it before I did, but there was no sign of that.

I had previous correspondence from minister Conlon saying that it was a big job and because of the leaded paint it had to be dismantled, taken to Port Adelaide, sandblasted, repainted, then taken back and rebuilt at Nuriootpa. The rumoured cost was in excess of $600,000, and we seek that confirmation through freedom of information now. The minister agreed that it could be included in the 2015-16 budget, obviously well after this government is out of office.

So it came to pass, as public pressure mounted: when will it happen? Last Thursday and Friday, two long days, and the job is done. I was very fortunate to have the services of a professional painter, Mr Craig Marsten and three of his staff—Ben Verne, Rodney Hill and Joel Semmler. The weather was good, and there was no wind. Also, Dulux donated the paint, which is a lovely colour, and Mitre 10 supplied all the bits and pieces. So, all in all, it was a very good result. Also, I got very favourable rates from the Barossa Valley hire company for the use of all the plant and equipment.

We did not intend it to be a stunt. All I can say is that the people are happy. Just look at the regulations there on this job and the cost. No wonder budgets get out of control, and no wonder Labor is a poor economic manager, because they do not know how to manage. Common sense has gone out of the window. In this instance, yes, we knew it was lead paint—but with proper management and care, it was handled, and now we have a result. I have to say that the community are very pleased about it. Everyone wanted to join it, and it turned out to be a great community project. The job is done, and the proof is there, if members want to have a look.

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