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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-06-04 Daily Xml
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SA Water

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:42): My question is to the Minister for Environment and Water. How many burst water mains and/or pipes are required for an area to be automatically included in SA Water's pipe replacement program? What is that program's budget? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Ms BEDFORD: The Ingle Farm-Valley View area is now unfortunately well entrenched in the SA Water top 10 hotspots list but is not designated as a focus area on the water main replacement program nor are those areas in my electorate, which have to include Pooraka after the burst on Sunday, part of the proposed works schedule.

Mr Hughes: You need a cardboard cut-out.

The SPEAKER: The member for Giles can leave for the remainder of question time.

The honourable member for Giles having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Environment and Water has the call.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water) (14:43): I thank the member for Florey for her question. That is a very valid question. Given its level of technical questioning involved there, I am happy to arrange a briefing for the member this week so that she can be brought up to speed with our strategy for not only the preventative maintenance strategy around those assets in her electorate but also how we assist people who are impacted by burst water mains.

I am very hopeful that we have made significant leaps forward in terms of dealing with this problem, particularly how you deal with people following the impact of a burst water main on their lives. There was no doubt in my mind a significant lack of empathy displayed by the previous government and a lack of turning up as well. Of course, as the member for Giles reminds us, the cardboard cut-out wasn't because of the burst water mains. It was because of the previous minister's inability to turn up and show empathy to those people who were impacted by burst water mains.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: So I have, where possible, reached out and connected with communities, talked to local members and also got out on the ground where I have been able to—and I acknowledge that isn't always possible but where possible—quietly go out into communities, talk to the people who have been affected and ensure that SA Water and associated organisations such as Allwater are providing an empathetic, rapid response to people whose lives are being impacted by burst water mains.

When you deliver water to over a million people in a metropolitan context, there will always be challenges with that sort of delivery of that sort of service, but we can do better. It is my desire to see particularly that customer service side of things continually improve. I think it has improved substantially in recent years and I look forward to that continuing to improve as we seek to minimise the impact of burst water mains on the day-to-day lives of South Australian households and businesses. I reiterate my desire to speak to the member for Florey and ensure she gets that briefing from SA Water as to how we are dealing with those issues in her community.

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