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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-10-26 Daily Xml
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St Kilda Mangroves

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:02): My question is to the Minister for Environment and Water. Just when will the investigation into the cause of the death of the mangroves and the leak from the salt fields be released publicly?

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (15:02): I should point out for the house's benefit that the Department for Energy and Mining is actually the lead agency for this project. We are the lead agency—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —of this project, which we inherited from those opposite. The Department for Energy and Mining—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —deals with this because it is actually a closed salt mine. We take this work extremely seriously. We work hand in hand with the Department for Environment and Water, the EPA and other agencies that have expertise, but essentially we are cleaning up a very significant problem that was left to us by the previous government. In fact—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —on coming to government, and on becoming a minister, it was actually one of the earliest and most extensive briefings that I received from the department, explaining exactly what our government was picking up. Having said that, we are getting on with the job. We are getting on with the job. We are engaging with a very wide range of experts on this issue.

In fact, with the Minister for Environment and Water, I have visited the site. I have also met with representatives of the local—I'm not sure if 'friends group' are exactly the right words, but those opposite will know what I mean, and I have had discussions with a range of people with a range of opinions on this topic. There's no doubt that what has happened at that site over decades and decades and decades has not been beneficial for the entire environment.

We are working very closely with the owner-operator of that site at the moment. We are working very closely with a range of people with a range of views. I have certainly met with Mr Craig Wilkins from the Conservation Council on I think three occasions on this matter and with other people he has chosen to bring along to discuss it. We take their views extremely seriously. We want their input. I spent about an hour on the site, on the boardwalk, through the mangroves with a—

Dr Close interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Minister, there's a point of order.

Dr CLOSE: Point of order: standing order 98. The question was: when will the investigation be made public?

The SPEAKER: The point of order is on standing order 98, which of course, as the minister knows, provides:

In answering a question, a Minister or other Member replies to the substance of the question and may not debate the matter to which the question refers.

The minister is well known in the house for providing comprehensive answers. I believe he is seeking to do so. I will listen closely and carefully to his answer.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Thank you, Speaker. In answering the question, I think it's important for people to understand the information that's gone into the investigation, the breadth of care and interest the Department for Energy and Mining has taken with regard to this work. It would be a mistake for anybody to think that there is just one report that might be released, that this business is just done and dusted. That would be completely inappropriate. This is work that was commenced under the previous government that we are going on with.

In fact, on the evening that I met with representatives of the local community to hear their concerns, I took along executive director Ms Alex Blood from the Department for Energy and Mining, who is an extraordinarily capable person and who previously, before coming into the Department for Energy and Mining, spent most of her time, I understand, working as an environmental scientist, so a fantastic person to be leading this work from within the Department for Energy and Mining.

She engages with locals, she engages with the Environment Protection Agency, she engages with the Department for Environment and Water and many, many people and independent experts as well. She has also, I know, engaged with Ms Peri Coleman, and she did so face to face with me at this visit. For the deputy leader, the report and as much information as possible will be released immediately, as soon as I am advised that it is appropriate to do so.

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