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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-03-07 Daily Xml
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Weather Monitoring

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (15:29): I rise to speak on a major infrastructure gap in our state, which means there is a significant weather forecasting and knowledge deficiency for our community and industries. Between Ceduna and Adelaide, there is no Doppler weather radar that allows for the accurate forecasting of weather.

If you are an avid watcher of weather radar data, like we are in regional South Australia, you would notice a big blank area across significant parts of Eyre Peninsula and Spencer Gulf. This has led to lost opportunities for our primary producers across both the Yorke and Eyre peninsulas. The installation of a Doppler radar on Eyre Peninsula would allow for improved weather forecasting and an increased output by farmers across the region. Improvements in primary production business efficiency could yield increased economic gains in the tens of millions of dollars for South Australia, enable more appropriate decision-making for those businesses in an ever-changing climate, and provide extra jobs in rural and regional communities.

Decisions around farming operations, such as the application of fertiliser and chemicals, are currently being made with a lack of up-to-date weather information. These decisions are often on treatments that cost tens of thousands of dollars per pass and potentially can be left redundant if a farming business is unfortunately in the pathway of an unpredicted weather event, rainfall or wind.

Similar installations made by the Western Australian government in recent years have proven that there is significant return on investment, and this was in inland areas of the state that are reliant solely on agriculture. Here in South Australia, we have a substantial fishing and aquaculture industry that would see significant advantage with greater weather forecasting certainty, along with potential improved safety outcomes for both agriculture and aquaculture farmers as well as tourism operators.

This issue has been front of mind for my community in regard to emergency management. The recent fire at Port Lincoln highlighted this, as without up-to-date weather forecasting capacity, a significant wind event, which had not been predicted, delivered much more dangerous fire conditions than had been forecast.

Major safety and decision-making challenges with emergency management are made without accurate information, with these gaps often filled with rudimentary solutions such as ringing up a fisherman who is out on the waters to the west, trying to ascertain when a wind change or a weather front may be coming. This is not good enough.

An investment in a Doppler weather radar on Eyre Peninsula would provide positive outcomes for communities and businesses here in South Australia, economic advantages for agricultural businesses, safety benefits for emergency management, and support for our aquaculture and fishing industry which provides so much for our state's economy.

I have written about this to both the Minister for Primary Industries and the Minister for Emergency Services, and I hope the state government can recognise this potential and partner with the federal government to deliver an outcome.

I take the opportunity today to congratulate the members of the Port Lincoln Baptist Church on the official dedication of their new church building last Sunday. I was invited along as the local member and joined a significant number of worshippers on the day from all across Eyre Peninsula and beyond. The original Baptist Church chapel in Port Lincoln was built right back in the mid-1800s and has stood there in what has become Adelaide Place ever since, having a variety of uses throughout the decades. However, due to its age and construction, the building slowly became unfit for use and the congregation there made plans for an alternative.

These first moves were made more than a decade ago, and the work that has been done since has been incredible. A block for a new building was purchased and prepared, with an incredible amount of volunteer hours added to with willing and able tradespeople who have come together to deliver a fantastic new facility. This move from their chapel on Adelaide Place has been a long time in the making and is a testament to the faithfulness, perseverance and dedication of those involved over many years.

Congratulations to the whole congregation at the Port Lincoln Baptist Church, especially the building community on their perseverance, as well as Pastor Peter Hanan and his wife, Sally, on their leadership. The church has taken on the moniker of Living Waters Baptist Church, reflecting the words from the scripture John 7:37-38, where it reads Jesus said:

If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

As spoken about on the day, a church is not a building: it is the people of faith within. Long may they continue to be a font of living water within the community of Port Lincoln.

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