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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-03-06 Daily Xml
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River Murray Flood Clean-Up

Ms O'HANLON (Dunstan) (14:56): My question is to the Minister for Climate, Environment and Water. Can the minister update the house on the progress of the government-led River Murray flood clean-up and her recent visit to the region?

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Minister for Climate, Environment and Water, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Minister for Workforce and Population Strategy) (14:56): I am delighted to bring people up to date with this. Such is the adventure of climate change, where we are dealing with a cyclone hitting Brisbane and northern New South Wales, where we are dealing with an extended dry period here in South Australia, and, also, it is not so long since we had the flood that came across the border. Indeed, for people living in the Riverland who were affected by that, it hasn't yet really come to an end. Last week, I went to visit the sites where Green Industries has been involved in cleaning up a lot of the shacks and houses and some of the rubbish that had come down the river, but—

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: I have tolerated this for a long time. I was never in London—

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey!

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: —so stop misleading the house. You don't know what personal issues I was dealing with, you've never bothered to ask, and yet every single time I talk about the river I get this misleading of the house and it is discourteous and not true.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey.

Mr WHETSTONE: I would like the Deputy Premier to withdraw and apologise. 'Misleading the house' at every time—what a load of rubbish!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my right will be quiet or you will be leaving the chamber. The member for Chaffey, yelling out across the chamber is disorderly, so if you don't want to get pulled up on something don't yell out. The Deputy Premier.

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: Thank you, Mr Speaker. So last week I went with Green Industries people who have been involved with the clean-up, and I met with several locals who have had the experience of having their sites cleaned or others that are still waiting to fully be able to refurbish the houses that they have been living in. It's extraordinary that it is some two years since the flood and yet we are still dealing with some of these issues. I would draw to the house's attention that, with the advent of climate change and therefore the likelihood of other extreme events, we are unlikely to continue to have even such a gap between them in the future, and we need to prepare still more.

There have been 1,941 properties that were registered for assistance, and in the process GISA has completed 412 demolitions and 142 hazard reduction works under the program. That's where the fabric of the house remains but the hazards—which might be asbestos, it might be mould, other forms of damage—are removed. There are still 16 properties scheduled for the final round of works which we are expecting to be completed before April this year.

In that time, I spent a good amount of time at Marks Landing with Rocky Warren. Rocky is an extraordinary leader in his community and a voice of the community. He lives in his house—he is actually currently living in a mobile home still, rebuilding and refurbishing his house. But he was never at any point concerned about himself, he was concerned about the way in which his community would be pulled back together, and I think that is a mark of so many people in South Australia who go through these experiences that are so selfless and generous with their support. I really want to acknowledge his role in continuously speaking up for his community and also thank him for his very warm and generous welcoming of all of us when we visited last week.

Similarly, I met with Rob Agius, who is one of the elders in the area. One of the challenges for many people who are undergoing works as a result of the flood has been the finding of Aboriginal heritage and how to manage that. What has been, again, a mark of this process has been how respectful people have been of the need to accommodate the Aboriginal heritage that has been discovered and the way in which they have worked together in a cooperative way.

Finally, in Swan Reach I spent time with Tim Siebert and John George OAM. Tim first took me out in a tinnie a couple of years ago at the height of the water to show me his shack and now he has been able to show this site that has been cleared by Green Industries ready for rebuilding from the other side, from the land. It was remarkable to try to fit together in my mind where that shack had been and now where that site will be. He is not without some frustrations about the pace of works being undertaken but, again, was a very generous person in his time that he spent with us and the visit that he showed us. I would like to pay tribute to GISA for the work that they have done.

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