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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-11-27 Daily Xml
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Question Time

DESALINATION PLANT

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:26): My question is to the Premier. When did the Premier become aware that the desalination plant was being mothballed given that the mothballing was incorporated into SA Water's business model at least five months before it was announced on 4 October?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (14:26): Of course, all of these decisions were taken and made during a period when I was not responsible for the water portfolio, but my recollection of events is that these were matters which were notorious matters of public record. Indeed, I think that, in a cunning tactic by the Minister for Water, he hid the fact of putting the desalination plant on stand-by on the front page of The Advertiser. In a remarkable act of concealment he thought that being asked questions by a journalist and then having them—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —printed on the front page of The Advertiser might be a fairly prudent approach to ensuring that information got out in the general public. Most people read the front page of The Advertiser and, indeed, the article referred to, I think, on 22 January 2011—well before the dates that those opposite are suggesting that this became a matter of notorious public record or of decisions that were made internally within government. So, well before that time it was on the public record.

The charge that those opposite level against us that somehow this is being concealed is utterly and totally rebutted by the public record. You would have to be the laziest opposition in the history of the planet—

Mr GARDNER: Point of order, Madam Speaker. The Premier is going into debate, again.

The SPEAKER: I do not think that you have hardly given him time. I do not uphold that point of order. Premier, I refer you back to the question.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Madam Speaker, the gravamen of the question is one of concealment. That is the proposition they put to us, that we knew about the desalination plant being on stand-by mode in certain circumstances and we did not tell the community about it. That is the proposition, yet the Minister for Water on 22 January 2011 is on the front page of the paper saying the very thing, and not just that but in detail, in extension—a long interview with, I understand, Penny Debelle, the journalist, where these issues were canvassed at length.

Indeed, I think that the headline was not a particularly attractive headline for the government. It was criticism of the government about the fact that there would be, on some view of it, obviously, a desalination plant which is an expensive proposition, we acknowledge that. However, the minister was at pains to point out that we would only run it when it was necessary; that it seemed that on the projections by 2015, after the run-in period of the plant, it would be prudent to have it on stand-by mode if the water continued to be available in our catchments and in the River Murray.

This was always the caveat. This is always the caveat that was put onto the matter that the water had to be there to ensure that South Australia's drinking water needs would be dealt with. So, this is a matter of notorious fact. Every time the minister has been asked a question about this in the parliament he has said a similar thing, which is essentially that we will only use this if we need it. It is there as an insurance policy, in the driest state in the driest inhabited continent, to ensure that we have water security.

The issue that led to the more recent publicity about this happened to be a submission made by SA Water to ESCOSA when they were trying to set water prices for the next four years. In the last year of that period, in 2015, an estimate had to be made about what was going to happen in relation to water costs so that water prices could be sensibly set.

Of course, after the run-in period, after the plant was run to make sure that it actually met the warranty standards, on present indications it looked as though there was going to be sufficient water in the system and we would only need to run the plant on stand-by mode. That is what was put to ESCOSA. It went up on a website; once again, hidden in full view from those opposite. If they did a moment's research and if they were not the laziest opposition on the face of the planet they would have known this.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order.

Mr GARDNER: Straying from the reservation again: 98. The Premier continues to debate.

The SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Morialta. I think the Premier can sit down.

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