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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-07-21 Daily Xml
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Mawson Electorate

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson) (15:37): I rise today to talk about a few concerning things in our local area down in the south. The number one issue is that lack of work on the South Road duplication project, which we announced in our 2017 budget when we were still in government. In the lead-up to the 2018 election, the Liberal Party was asked by the very good people of the South Road Action Group whether the Liberals would match Labor's budgeted funding for this much-needed upgrade of one of the busiest corridors in South Australia.

The Liberal Party said that, yes, they would, and that there would be bulldozers out there before the end of 2019 to start building. As I have said, there was more bulldust than bulldozers. We have not seen any work start on the South Road duplication, and it is just another Liberal Party lie. They are out there saying that they care about building things in South Australia.

Do you know how many jobs could be created if they started work on a project that was announced in 2017? Hundreds and hundreds of much-needed jobs in the south. Unfortunately, this government is all about getting out there with their scissors and cutting ribbons on projects that Labor promised but not actually getting on with the job of building any of the projects that need to be done.

On the other hand, this government says they want to take away people's right to protest and to have a view on a development by the private sector in our local area because they want a stimulus because of COVID-19. They say we need to speed up planning approval so that the private sector can come in and build whatever they want to without their neighbours being able to have a say in what that may look like and without the community being able to have a say in whether that is the appropriate place for a major development.

This government wants to just allow the developers in to ruin a beautiful part of South Australia, and I am talking about McLaren Vale, our wine region. A decade ago we brought legislation into this place, which was the first of its type in Australia, to give protection to the character of McLaren Vale, and when we talk about the character it is the rolling hills, it is the vineyards, it is the pristine agricultural land that we have seen devoured by housing estates everywhere north of McLaren Vale, right out to Gawler and beyond.

We had the foresight a decade ago to bring in some protections, and where you can build in the McLaren Vale wine regions is within the town boundaries: McLaren Vale, McLaren Flat and Willunga. The community was very clear on that, and when this government was elected in 2018 and failed to reassure people in my local area that that agricultural preserve would be locked in place forever as it is and how it was intended by our community and how it was intended by the parliament people got really upset.

We had more than 500 people come to a community meeting in McLaren Vale in October 2018, so people were really concerned about it. Yet a developer wants to come along and build a 150-room hotel and conference facility out on prime agricultural road on McMurtrie Road and this government is taking away the right of my community, our local people, to have a say on that.

We all think it is probably a good idea that we have a 150-room hotel and convention centre in McLaren Vale, but the thought is: why would you ruin the character—which was what the legislation was all about protecting—when it could be built in the main street of McLaren Vale, and then the flow-on would be extra business for all those small businesses, such as the cafes and the restaurants up and down the main street?

There is a bus stop—as long as this government does not take it away—right out the front of the Visitor Information Centre, which would be an ideal site. That bus stop leads to the Seaford rail line. It leads to cafes up and down the main street. It leads to Willunga, which is where the farmers' market is every Saturday. There is another bus stop at the Salopian Inn. Again, we hope they do not take these bus stops away. These are the sorts of concerns that our local people have.

Another big concern for McLaren Vale is that this government has the power—and it has failed to exercise that power—to stop a PFAS dump being built in McLaren Vale. This is one of the most pristine food and wine areas in Australia, in the world. This government could step in and stop PFAS being dumped there, but at this stage it has not. I have spoken to the EPA, which seemed to me to be apologists for the people who want to dump PFAS into the area. They say, 'Oh, it's state-of-the-art technology.' I think they might have told us that about the retractable lights at Adelaide Oval, they might have told us that about the Titanic.

The people who are going to pay the price are the people of McLaren Vale in 10, 20 or 50 years' time, and I am really worried. We want to stop this dump.

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