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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-06-24 Daily Xml
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Riverbank Arena

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:13): My question is to the Premier. Does the Premier's city-based basketball stadium have support from all his party room, particularly the members for Chaffey, MacKillop, Flinders and Hammond?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:13): We are obviously looking at these proposals very, very carefully but, rather than making decisions on the back of an envelope, we go through detailed planning and consideration. One of the things we do very differently from the previous government is submit those plans to Infrastructure SA for its independent verification.

This was a proposal we took to the 2014 election. It was a proposal we took to the 2018 election. We were the only state in Australia that didn't have an infrastructure body, an independent umpire, if you like, to look at the way we spend the state's capital and make sure we get return on that investment—the only state.

One of the first things that we did on coming to government was to put legislation in the parliament to establish an infrastructure body in South Australia. That is chaired by Tony Shepherd, and we have other very reputable and high-calibre people who are on that board, including Carolyn Hewson and three of our own chief executives of departments. It is headed up by chief executive Jeremy Conway. They look at a long-range, productive infrastructure plan for South Australia.

We also have Capital Intentions Statements. You would have seen, in the most recent Capital Intentions Statement, that this is a project ready for investment. So that is how we made our decision: is this the right way to spend the finite capital of South Australians? Will it give an adequate return? Because there is finite capital and there are infinite projects that government could spend their money on. One of the areas of focus for us is whether or not this will create jobs and whether or not it will cost or give a return to us in South Australia.

We know that once this project is delivered, after meeting all its interest costs and all its depreciation costs, it will still give a further return to the taxpayers of South Australia—not just a financial return but a jobs return, and it will also stop a leakage. Too many people are travelling interstate to go to concerts, flying directly over the top of South Australia. Why? Because the capacity of the existing Entertainment Centre, when it is set up for concerts, is 8,300—8,300.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Mawson!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We are going to take it up to 15,000, which massively improves the viability. It will bring people into South Australia and stop that leakage out of our state. I was very disappointed—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —because, in the last couple of months, the Land Forces conference was held in Brisbane. This is despite the fact that we had historically held the Land Forces conference in Adelaide and it had brought millions and millions of dollars into our economy. Every single hotel in the entire city was full. The people who hire equipment for exhibitions were all flat out. Our restaurants were busy, our bars were busy and our cafes were busy. This was a very good time for our state. We lost that conference to Brisbane because we didn't have the capacity.

We said to them, 'But we have got the capacity. We might have to put some in the CBD and maybe some out at Wayville.' No. 'What about some in the city and some down at Hindmarsh?' No. 'What about some on the southern bank of the Torrens and some on the northern bank, within the Adelaide Oval?' No. 'What about if we build a marquee on the riverfront?' (This is how desperate we were to get this here.) No. They want high-calibre, high-capacity venues for the larger conferences. That's what this will return.

Those opposite love to characterise it, for political terms, as a basketball stadium. The reality is that the Riverbank arena—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —will bring increased capacity for conferences, for concerts and also for our sporting teams.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the leader, I call to order and warn the member for Mawson, I call to order the member for Badcoe and I warn the member for West Torrens.

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