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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-02-08 Daily Xml
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River Murray Flood

Mr BASHAM (Finniss) (15:35): My question is to the Minister for Climate, Environment and Water. Will the minister apologise to my community for misleading them? With your leave, sir, and that of the house—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Finniss, please be seated. There is a point of order—I anticipate 97.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: It is 97, sir, and you cannot make an accusation like that in the house without a substantive motion. I ask the member to withdraw and apologise immediately.

Mr Tarzia: Mislead the community, not the parliament; it's the community, not parliament.

The SPEAKER: Yes, there is a distinction between misleading the house and the community. Nevertheless, standing order 97 does not permit argument or opinion. As well, it is a matter of very fine judgement as between something that might mislead a community and mislead the house in the context where a statement has or might be made to the house. I am very uncomfortable with the question as it presently sits. I'm going to give the member the opportunity to rephrase.

Mr BASHAM: Thank you, sir. Will the minister apologise to my community? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr BASHAM: On 30 November last year, the minister said:

…[it] is not going to be of serious consequence for those living close to the Lower Lakes…we expect that the level of the Lower Lakes will remain…about 15 centimetres above the normal operation but does not constitute a flooding event.

Then, at the time when the minister was overseas for a month, a warning was issued for flooding in Milang, with water levels reaching 1.4 metres AHD and power and sewerage systems being cut off to about 80 shacks.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr BASHAM: People in my community took the minister at her word but were let down in the worst possible way.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Premier is called to order.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members to my left and right!

The Hon. P.B. Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Premier is called to order. The member for Unley is on three warnings. The Premier is warned. Member for Finniss, there is an additional difficulty with the question under standing orders. The purpose of question time is to seek information. All of the standing orders are directed at that purpose.

The Hon. P.B. Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier is warned for a second time. Seeking an apology and then using leave as a device to form up a question does not cure the defect in the original question. I am going to give you one final opportunity. What is your question, member for Finniss?

Mr BASHAM: My question is to the Minister for Climate, Environment and Water. Does the minister stand by her answer that water levels would not reach a flooding event?

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Minister for Defence and Space Industries, Minister for Climate, Environment and Water) (15:38): Let's just get to the answer. Look, yes, when I came into the chamber—and it was in parliament—I talked about what we expected, and I think that was the quote that was used in the explanation in the second version of the question. That was what was expected at that time. That was the modelling that had been given to me. As everyone knows, we had been working on modelling that we were given. At each time when conveying that modelling to the public, and to this chamber, it was always with the caveat that there are unpredictable changes that can occur, including through additional rain—although not in this case, but with other levels of the flood as they were updated over time. Of course, the water was higher than expected, that is absolutely true; so I stand by the fact that the expectation that the modellers had did alter. Interestingly, for those who actually are interested in the content of this, the change that occurred—

The SPEAKER: I am just not sure what purpose those gestures are serving. In fact, they are contrary to standing orders. The Deputy Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: Thank you, Mr Speaker—

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: It is so tragic, the—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Badcoe is called to order. The Treasurer is called to order. The Deputy Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am endeavouring to deal with only the content and not the level of abuse that is being thrown across the chamber. The change in the water level appears to have largely, if not entirely, been associated with a build-up at one of the barrages that had more silt than had been expected. That meant more water was pushing back across the lakes rather than the expected behaviour of the water coming into that area; it was different to what had been modelled. So, yes; the modelling expected it to be at a certain level but the reality was slightly higher due to this build-up at that barrage. The water has now started to subside.

The SPEAKER: Has the Deputy Premier concluded her answer? Very well. There have been only two government questions today, and I'm going to turn to the member for Light, as I earlier indicated, for the third.

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