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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-04-30 Daily Xml
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Penneshaw Wharf

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley) (14:57): My question is to the Minister for Tourism. Will visitor infrastructure be put in place at Christmas Cove, Kangaroo Island, to cater for cruise ship passengers during the next cruise season? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: The Department for Infrastructure and Transport has indicated that, as part of the refurbishment and realignment of the Penneshaw jetty, the existing jetty will be closed from 8 May 2024. The opposition understands there will be no toilets, no buildings, little appropriate infrastructure at the cove, with an estimated 40,000 cruise ship passengers expected to arrive there during the next season.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:58): This is an outcome of the work that we have had to do at Penneshaw. You might recall, sir, as the local member, this was announced long ago and when we entered office we found a project that was under scoped and underfunded. Agreements had been signed without any real detail to DIT about the types of ferries that were needed to be used. I am surprised that my friend is asking questions about the Penneshaw wharf upgrade given what occurred during the previous government.

I am happy to go back and get a full report for my young friend and inform the house in all its glory the detail of what occurred at Penneshaw and what is occurring at Penneshaw. The government has picked up the pieces of that failed tender by the previous government and is putting more resources into making sure that we can get the appropriate infrastructure for the island. The island requires that. That infrastructure at Penneshaw is the lifeblood of Kangaroo Island. The locals know exactly how important it is. We have had to restart that tender process.

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia interjecting:

Importantly, my young friend interjects, 'Two years'. The difference between any other infrastructure program and this one is that we cannot close the wharf for works. So we are having to work between ferries—

Mr Cowdrey: You managed to close the Adelaide Aquatic Centre.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Well, I don't think the Aquatic Centre equates—I don't think it's the same as the only lifeline to an island. There's an old saying: sometimes it is better to remain silent than remove all doubt. I think the shadow treasurer has removed all doubt. Comparing an aquatic centre, a leisure centre, with the lifeblood of an island which keeps medical provisions, food and logistics moving on the island is completely inappropriate, and probably shows why the former tender was so badly botched.

What we are doing now is getting it right. I will come back to the house with a full report about what we will be doing to maintain tourism operations on the island, but it is fair to say that if this had been done right the first time, we wouldn't be back here the second time trying to fix it and get it right because of the incompetence of members opposite.

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