House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-08-25 Daily Xml

Contents

Kangaroo Island Wharf Facility

Ms MICHAELS (Enfield) (14:36): My question again is to the Minister for Planning. Did the Minister mislead the parliament on 2 August in response to my question about whether there has ever been a process undertaken by government to look at the best location for a port to export timber off from Kangaroo Island? With your leave, Mr Deputy Speaker, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Ms MICHAELS: The minister, in estimates on 2 August, claimed that no process had been undertaken by the government to determine the best location for a new port on Kangaroo Island, but on page 30 of the assessment report the commission itself confirms the government, in regard to the Smith Bay proposal, contracted Wavelength Consulting Pty Ltd to, and I quote, 'determine whether Smith Bay was an appropriate site for the wharf and port facility and to test the viability of alternative sites'.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: You can't lie to parliament.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for West Torrens, you are already on one warning.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Planning and Local Government) (14:37): In direct answer to the question, no. In relation to the report that was referred to at estimates, I did make further inquiry about whether anyone else had done that. My understanding was that that Department of Transport, which at the time was assisting under a previous iteration of this particular project, had commissioned a report. I'm not sure whether that was for the proponent or who paid for it or anything else, but I made that inquiry and, yes, there was a report prepared by a company called Wavelength. I can't remember their full name, but it's something like that and it's referred to in the assessment report.