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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-10-18 Daily Xml
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Torrens to Darlington Project

Mr TARZIA (Hartley) (14:35): My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. How did a copy of the Torrens to Darlington reference design end up being accessed by the public? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr TARZIA: On 17 October, The Advertiser published details obtained from an accessible department webpage posting a copy of the reference design.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:36): It wasn't accessed by the public; it was accessed by an investigative journalist who had more sense than the opposition to find it. She was able to get access to a test webpage that wasn't password protected. This test webpage is anticipating the government going out to consultation, ultimately, for the north-south corridor—a unique concept for members opposite.

Once our reference design is completed—and that work has not yet been completed—we will go out to the public—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Well, calling it a leak diminishes the work of The Advertiser because The Advertiser were the ones who were able to go out and source this. I think it's rude and insulting to say to The Advertiser that it's a leak—

Mr Telfer interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Flinders!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —because it's not a leak—

Ms Stinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Badcoe!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: It's investigative journalism.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Tarzia: It says right there: it says 'the leak'. It says there, 'leak'. You're on the front page, mate. You're on the front page!

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Hartley will withdraw that document.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Sir, it's a—

Mr Tarzia interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Well read as it might be, the member for Hartley is warned. The minister has the call.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Yes, that was an inadvertent slip-up by the department. I have spoken with the executive director in charge of this area, Mr Andrew Ockenden, and I think he is a fine public servant. Given this mishap occurred while he was in charge of this, I don't believe for a moment it was a leak because that would imply something apparently awful to Mr Ockenden, and I don't think the opposition should do that.

My view is that the department is run by good public servants who are doing their very best to anticipate the government's moves and intentions, but if members opposite are somehow implying that this was a leak from this department —

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey is warned.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —that changes everything—

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hammond is warned.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —and if members opposite have any evidence of this, I look forward to seeing it.

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Morialta! The minister has the call.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Of course, it is not a leak. It is a very, very good investigative journalist who has done exceptional work—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —and who has found a piece of information that was inadvertently put online. That doesn't mean our work is finished. We made no secret of the fact that—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Morialta! The minister has the call.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: We made no secret that the reference design left to us by the previous government was inadequate—not only inadequate but dangerous, and not only dangerous but it could have seen the government expend $9.9 billion—

Ms Stinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Badcoe!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —of taxpayers' money on a tunnel system that would not work. That would have been a catastrophic disaster. We are doing the diligent work of making sure that these tunnels work, that we get the best solution for the people of South Australia—not try to come up with a solution just to get past an election.

I pose this rhetorical question to the parliament: if the previous reference design was so good and ready to go, why didn't the previous government start? Why didn't they start work? Why didn't they order the tunnel-boring machines? Why didn't they begin the process? Well, they didn't.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: They didn't, and the reason they didn't—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Colton!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: So—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Florey! The minister has the call.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —I have great faith in our department. This was an inadvertent error by them.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Colton!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: There is no malice in this. They are simply trying to anticipate the government's—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Morialta!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —keen aspirations to consult with the people of South Australia. I want to make sure that when we do make this reference design public the people of South Australia actually get a real say in how it's developed.

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