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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-09-18 Daily Xml
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Adelaide Festival Centre

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:42): Supplementary. Will the government commit to allowing the Riverbank Authority and its members announced today time to assess the proposals from the Walker Corporation regarding the Festival Plaza precinct before entering into an agreement with the Walker Corporation?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Industrial Relations) (14:42): There are a couple of things to be said about this. First of all, one needs to understand what the actual function of the Riverbank Authority is. The Riverbank Authority is the curator, if I can put it that way, of the space around and in between the various institutions that will occupy the riverbank. So, if you were to have a map of the riverbank and you were to cut out the Convention Centre, cut out the Casino, the Festival Theatre, universities and so on, you would be left with what is the common realm, if I can put it that way, of the riverbank.

It is the purpose and function of the Riverbank Authority to curate, to manage and to basically activate and vitalise that common shared place. So, of course, they will be involved in conversations with all of the players who are involved in any development around that place. I can say that since Mr McEvoy has been chair it has been my policy, since I have been minister, to make sure that we have regular communications with Mr McEvoy so that he is—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Beg your pardon?

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Well, that was 100 per cent consultation, wasn't it? So, we have been consulting with Mr McEvoy. He is completely aware of what is going on. Of course, if the member for Bragg is asking is it the government's intention that the Riverbank Authority personnel, once they have settled into their roles, be involved in conversations with all of the players, of course they will be, but their role is not the decision-making role with respect to contractual arrangements between the state government and any potential developer of projects in the vicinity of the car park or the plaza, or however you wish to describe it, nor is it their role to negotiate arrangements between, for example, the Adelaide Casino, which everyone knows has been foreshadowing the probability of development there. Again, it is not their role to do that. I am very pleased that the Riverbank Authority is now in a position where it can get on with that sort of negotiated public-realm curation and management. I am absolutely positive that it will do an excellent job

I think that members opposite will be very pleased, over the course of the next year or so, to see how things evolve in that very important precinct, and I am absolutely positive that the Riverbank Authority will make a fantastic contribution to that. Let's be fair about this: at the present time already we are seeing ongoing development there in the form of the Convention Centre phase 2 development. It is a very exciting part of the city. Over the next year or so, I think that people are going to be absolutely delighted with the way the Riverbank Authority works with the other institutional and private sector players in the area.

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