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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-05-04 Daily Xml
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Hammond Electorate

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (15:44): I rise today to talk about the fantastic electorate of Hammond and about the things that have happened as a result of the different iterations with respect to redistributions. I was privileged in my first term in this place to look after the wonderful precinct of Strathalbyn between 2006 and 2010 before it went into the seat of Heysen. At the last redistribution, just before the most recent election this year, Strathalbyn came back into Hammond, but it has been well looked after by two members for Heysen.

I want to reflect on some of the things that happened and some of the things that we have all advocated for in the district in recent times. Just before the 2018 election, the Labor government of the day decided that it would close down the Kalimna aged-care/retirement living facility and kick people out of what they believed were their homes.

They were distributed over tens and tens of kilometres around the Hills and other areas. They were taken out of their homes on the pretext that it was unsafe to stay. Kalimna is on land fundraised by the community, and it was a building that the community built. To have a government run roughshod and just walk in and kick out these locals from their homes was an absolute disgrace.

What I will say is that during the last four years of the Marshall Liberal government—and I know the member for Heysen advocated for this alongside me—we saw the upgrade of the aged-care facility in Strathalbyn with 36 new beds, with 24 beds to the memory unit and 12 extra aged-care beds. Everyone I talk to say that it is fantastic. I have not had the opportunity to view it myself.

I was really pleased to see that, in the build of this facility, the new kitchen was built underneath and that proper planning was involved. I visited a couple of times as it was being built, and it was built appropriately instead of trying to refit a kitchen underneath a build, which would have been at horrendous cost. I really commend that process.

Kalimna is still a question mark. I know that in our last few months in government the future use of Kalimna was being investigated. I know that plenty of other options were thrown around, but whether it is aged care or retirement living it will be in that sector. The best way forward may be to knock the building down and build something fit for purpose, but let's see where that lands. I urge the new government to make sure that it commits fully to that process.

Mr Teague: The money is there.

Mr PEDERICK: The money is there. We put in $3 million. Something else I want to reflect on quickly in the last couple of minutes involving the Strathalbyn district is that I have been involved with the Strathalbyn Community Consultative Committee concerning the Terramin mine, which has not operated for about nine or 10 years now. It still has dust testing equipment on site and other things. Obviously limited staff are around because it has not operated for a while. It has the grinding apparatus there. I have been on that committee since before I was elected. I stayed on it for longevity through the time I did not actually look after the main part of Strathalbyn, but I looked after a lot of country around it.

I raise this today because my understanding is that that there has obviously been a lot of discussion and a lot of investigation into the proposed Bird in Hand mine at Birdwood, the old goldmine site. There has been a lot of debate either way, with a lot of to-and-fro between the Department for Energy and Mining, Terramin and other stakeholders, and a lot of consultation across the community. I would urge the department to get whatever advice moving forward on the future of the Bird in Hand mine.

The way in which it impacts Strathalbyn is that, if it is mined, the ore will be transported to Strathalbyn to be milled. If the Minister for Mining and Energy does get advice on the future of the Bird in Hand mine, I urge him to bring that to the house as quickly as possible so that the communities of Strathalbyn and Woodside know what is going to happen moving forward. It has been about eight years in the making and people need some closure of this issue.

Time expired.

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