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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-03-22 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

SA Water Infrastructure

Mr TARZIA (Hartley) (15:08): Like I have so many times over the past two years in this place, today I want to use my time to advocate on two issues for the good people in my electorate of Hartley: firstly, burst water mains and, secondly, the Labor Party's broken promise of the Glynde substation.

On Monday 7 March Clairville Road and the surrounding streets suffered due to a burst water main. Water is still being released two weeks later, and today I asked the Premier whether he could explain why after two weeks my constituents in Campbelltown still do not have their water services fully restored. The minister responsible in this house could not give me an adequate answer as to why that is the case, and that is absolutely absurd.

The last few months have been a troubling time for some of the residents in my electorate, for two main reasons. When they have not been dealing with the ongoing Glynde substation—Labor's broken promise—they have been dealing with issues arising from burst water mains, and I would like to address this issue first.

The spate of recent burst water mains in my area and in the vicinity continue, with another significant break on Magill Road and Water Street during peak hour traffic earlier this week, as well as in Hectorville. In the past three months there have been significant and unacceptable increases in the number of burst water mains in and around the vicinity of my electorate, and also in neighbouring electorates held by some of my colleagues, in particular the member for Morialta.

A few of these burst water mains have caused significant damage to people's homes and vehicles, and they have also affected property. The burst mains in Campbelltown and Paradise on 7 March flooded dozens of homes. Also, on last Tuesday 15 March the water supply was cut to over 100 homes in Hectorville, denying residents access to the most basic amenities. I cannot detail each incident right now in the time that I have, but there have been too many, and the response from this government has not been good enough.

Another great example of the lacklustre, childlike response from both SA Water and the government was the burst water main on Magill Road and Water Street which occurred last Monday. For those who are not aware, on Monday the 21st of this month a water main burst on Magill Road in peak hour traffic causing extensive delays. A local resident and business owner was on radio telling the public that he had called SA Water on 8 March, some 13 days prior to the burst, to report that the leak had already appeared. He asserted that SA Water came out, sprayed the area with yellow paint, and nothing else was done.

However, we had to wait until later, when the pipe burst during peak hour traffic, to get SA Water to take real action. It is a bit rich of minister Hunter to get on the radio and then defend SA Water's maintenance program after that, when SA Water knew about the leak. They had two weeks to act, but nothing was done until this main burst in peak hour. How can the minister be satisfied with that response from his agency? It is absolutely disgusting.

Another topical issue concerns the Glynde substation. Residents in my electorate are extremely disappointed because of the Labor Party's broken promise from the last state election. By way of a brief refresher for those unacquainted with the issue, prior to the 2014 election the Labor government announced it would commit to providing government land to ensure the Glynde substation was not built on the proposed site.

March represents the two-year anniversary of Labor's broken promise, their failure to deliver on this promise. After losing the seat of Hartley in 2014, Labor has turned its back on this promise. I will keep holding this government to account. Prior to the election, we had the Premier himself tweeting about his government's commitment to providing government land as an alternative site for the Glynde substation.

So what are the residents of Hartley to believe? All they are left with from this government is a broken promise. My constituents have a long memory, and for the ones who do not you can rest assured that they will be reminded that this state Labor government lied to them, reneged on this promise to find alternative land for the Glynde substation.

The people of Hartley deserve to have promises delivered on. It is extremely reckless and unbecoming for this Labor government to play politics with my constituents. The state Labor government must deliver on its promise and provide land to relocate the substation out of residential Glynde.

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