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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-02-27 Daily Xml
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DARLEY, HON. J.A.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (16:45): I move:

That the Legislative Council welcomes the Hon. J.A. Darley, elected by an Assembly of Members of both houses to replace the Hon. N. Xenophon, resigned.

At the time, the leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Assembly, Mr Martin Hamilton-Smith, welcomed Mr Darley, but this is the first time that I have had an opportunity to do that formally on behalf of the Liberal opposition. I think I speak also on behalf of all members of the Legislative Council in welcoming Mr Darley here today, and we look forward to his contribution in his maiden speech.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Hon. R.P. Wortley): I advise members that, as this is Mr Darley's maiden speech, he should be given your utmost attention, in accordance with tradition.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (16:46): Thank you, Mr Acting President. I take this opportunity to thank the honourable member, and the council, for the warm welcome given to me since being elected on 21 November 2007. It is, indeed, a great privilege and honour to have been elected to the Legislative Council as an Independent member. I have to say, at the outset, that my voting will be based on the merits of the issues being debated.

I congratulate former MLC the Hon. Nick Xenophon on his election to the Senate. I am sure that he will continue to argue strongly on behalf of South Australia in the federal parliament.

My speech today will focus, first, on a brief summary of my background, although some of this was outlined in the Premier's speech at the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament; and, secondly, some of the issues that will influence my voting on proposed legislation.

My great-grandparents emigrated from England in the mid-1800s and opened up land for farming purposes in the Narridy-Crystal Brook area of the Mid North. Successive generations, including my parents, helped to accumulate and work on a number of farms in the area, extending to Georgetown and Gulnare. My father, like many young men in the Mid North, was a competent horseman and a volunteer in the 9th Light Horse Regiment immediately after World War I in the early 1920s and 30s.

I was born in Clare in the Mid North and, in 1939, at the outbreak of World War II, the family moved to St Leonards (or, as it is now known, Glenelg North) and my father enlisted in the RAAF. He was initially based at Point Cook in Victoria and subsequently served in the Pacific campaign until the war ended in 1945. I attended St Leonards Primary School from 1943 until 1949. During the war years most of my classmates lived in single-parent families whilst their fathers served in the armed forces. School life was an adventure in those days, as we were required to provide our own entertainment. We played football, soccer and cricket but, typical of the education system in those days, we were never taught the skills.

After school we would go fishing in the unlined Sturt Creek, where it was not difficult to catch freshwater fish and yabbies. Rabbits were plentiful on the Glenelg Golf Course and on land that subsequently became the site of Adelaide Airport. I recall the barbed wire barricades along the foreshore at Glenelg, the trenches which covered the school oval, the air raid practices that occurred on a daily basis, and the searchlights that crossed the sky at night. These were both sad and happy times. I recall the day my best friend was told that his father had been killed, after his aircraft had been shot down over Europe. On another occasion a friend, whose father was a prisoner of war in Changi Prison, was told that his father was alive and was being repatriated to Australia.

My mother was actively involved in community affairs during the war years and was president of the Glenelg Good Neighbour Council. Immediately after the war, the council was involved in the integration of Baltic State refugees from the Glenelg North migrant hostel into the community. She later went on to teach intellectually disadvantaged children with the psychology branch of the education department.

After leaving primary school I attended the Adelaide technical high school from 1950 until 1953. On leaving high school, I was employed as a junior draftsman with the Engineering and Water Supply Department and worked on the Mannum-Adelaide pipeline, the South Para Reservoir, and the Myponga Dam. In 1956, I completed three months of compulsory national service training at Woodside, followed by two years of part-time training in the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps. I must admit that, at the time, I was not particularly enthusiastic about this but, in hindsight, it turned out to be a worthwhile experience.

In 1960, I had the opportunity to join the chief assessor's branch of the Engineering and Water Supply Department and immediately commenced study in valuation, completing qualifications for admission as an Associate of the Commonwealth Institute of Valuers in 1964. I was seconded to the Public Service Board in 1965, at a time when the government had purchased its first mainframe computer, which occupied an area about the size of this chamber, but with the computing capacity similar to one of today's laptops.

I was assigned to an investigating team to examine the feasibility of establishing a central valuation authority and a computerised land and property information system for South Australia. In 1969, I led a team to develop a computerised land tax revenue collection system for the state Land Tax Department, a system that returned to bite me and other property owners in 2003.

I was appointed Valuer-General in 1982 and was instrumental in the decentralisation of the department into country and metropolitan locations, along with a system of annual valuations to better service the needs of the community and government. In 1986, I was appointed chief executive officer of the lands department and simultaneously at times held positions as chairman of the pastoral board, chairman of the land resource management standing committee, chairman of the SA land information council, and a member of the government's major projects committee.

From the mid-1980s to the 1990s, the department developed the land ownership and tenure system, an online inquiry system providing information on land ownership, land titles, valuation and real estate sales, the digital Cadastral database or geographic information system, and the computerised title. The department was also involved in international projects, including the development of land titling, surveying and evaluation systems for several Third World and other countries.

After a short period as chief executive officer of the state services department from 1992, I retired from the Public Service at the age of 56 in late 1993, but I continued as member and Chairman of the Commissioners of Charitable Funds from 1987 until 2007, responsible for the investment of approximately $80 million of gifts, bequests and donations held on behalf of several public hospitals for medical research and other purposes.

In 2005, I was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of Safety Medical Products Ltd, which includes two subsidiaries: Procontrol Systems and Bagot Press. The company is involved in the design, manufacture and distribution of products for the food, health and pharmaceutical industries and also the design and implementation of automatic plant and machine control.

I would like to highlight several issues, some of which have been of concern and others which have been of interest to me. I was encouraged by the government's announcement of a strategic plan that includes major initiatives and targets to be achieved over the foreseeable future. I believe it is essential that the various components of this plan are effectively communicated to the whole community and, in particular, to the people who will be directly affected by the various proposals.

Whilst this is not a criticism of the government, it is more a concern about the implementation by the bureaucracy. A good example where this communication has, in my opinion, been less than acceptable is the Anzac Highway-South Road underpass through to Torrens Road and the Northern Expressway. Concern has been expressed about the manner in which the plan was communicated to owners of property located in the path of this project.

The South Australian Land Acquisition Act provides the legislative framework and procedure to be followed, which protects both the government and the dispossessed owner, yet there appears to be a reluctance to use this legislation by some agencies. It may be necessary in future to formalise arrangements to compel departments to use the legislation when acquiring whole properties, particularly when they comprise part of an ongoing project.

The North Terrace tramline extension has been a success, and I look forward to the next stage of the grand plan, which may include an extension of the light rail system in Adelaide. The existing buildings located on the Fullarton Road frontage of Victoria Park are not particularly attractive, and the heritage grandstand has been in a state of disrepair for many years. Those who live close to or who are familiar with the park know that there are a number of soccer and cricket pitches within the racecourse area. These facilities are used extensively during weekdays and at weekends by school and sporting groups.

When the government announced the integrated multipurpose facility to accommodate the Clipsal 500 and the SAJC, I supported the project provided that these facilities could be used for other activities in addition to car and horse racing. I am still of the view that a multipurpose development, designed with sensitivity to the environment, would be an asset for the state and would be less intrusive when compared with the existing Adelaide Oval facility.

We are all aware that the government's target for population growth is to increase it to 2 million people by 2050. This will have a major impact on water supply, mass transportation planning policy and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The current drought conditions have raised serious concerns about water security. As I mentioned earlier, I worked on three major water infrastructure projects in the early fifties, but I think that the Kangaroo Creek Reservoir is probably the only water infrastructure project to have been completed since. I recall being involved in the acquisition of land for a proposed Clarendon reservoir in the early 1960s. However, this project has never proceeded under any government.

The Premier recently released plans for a desalination plant at Port Stanvac, the doubling in size of the Mount Bold Reservoir and a possible controversial weir at Wellington. Whilst these initiatives are a positive start, I believe that much more needs to be done in connection with stormwater retention, aquifer recharge and development of wetlands similar to the Salisbury council wetlands project in the Mawson Lakes area.

As a member of the SA Water Resources Council in the late 1980s, I recall that the Langhorne Creek Water Resources Committee was involved in a successful aquifer recharge experiment on the Angas River at Langhorne Creek. It is probably time to consider the feasibility of aquifer recharge along the River Torrens and Sturt, Brownhill and other creeks that currently discharge stormwater into the gulf. The potential for groundwater recovery and supplementation of the existing reticulation system should also be examined.

Electricity generation is a major issue for the future, particularly in relation to greenhouse gas emissions. If targets are to be set, these will need to be strictly adhered to if we are to address climate change issues. It is likely that demand for electricity will increase over the next 10 years before any significant reductions are achieved through implementation of more electricity efficient systems.

Whilst current alternatives include clean coal technology, wind power, solar power, hot rock technology and generation of electricity from wave action, it appears that nuclear energy will at least need to be considered as part of the mix, particularly as I understand that 16 per cent of the world's energy comes from electricity generated from nuclear power stations.

Irrespective of whether or not nuclear power generation is a safe alternative, the disposal of waste, including low-level waste (much of which is located on North Terrace), needs to be addressed. The whole question of nuclear waste disposal is a global issue and, as Australia is a major exporter of uranium, the problem of waste disposal must be tackled.

Housing affordability in Australia is another concern of mine. I understand that the current level of home ownership in Australia is about 60 per cent. Adelaide is rated as severely unaffordable in a recent study of affordable cities in the world, and it is becoming more difficult for young families to purchase a home in the rapidly escalating real estate market.

Apart from the fact that the cost of building homes is rising as a direct result of inflation, the cost of land is increasing, mainly because of the shortage of supply. Part of the shortage can be attributed to the lack of suitably zoned broadacre land and the time it takes to obtain planning approval from local government to subdivide land. Affordability is also compounded by expensive holding costs, which include government rates, charges and levies, which are passed on to the potential purchaser.

Similarly, with an ageing population there are many elderly people living in homes on land that could be subdivided if the planning laws were flexible enough to allow subdivision. This is particularly evident in newly created heritage conservation zones where some councils place unrealistic demands on minimum block sizes for the area. This creates another problem for the elderly because they are then faced with the problem of selling existing homes and, in many cases, moving to other suburbs away from families and support systems.

Housing affordability is further compounded by stamp duty costs that impact on young families on the purchase of a home and elderly people when attempting to downsize to smaller more affordable and manageable properties. The government's current stamp duty exemption of $250,000 virtually means that very few potential home purchasers receive any concession at all.

Land tax is a major revenue earner for the state and the recent sharp increases in this tax led to the formation of the Land Tax Reform Association. I have always argued that there is a need for land tax on property to pay for health, education and police, however there needs to be a fairer system of land tax that does not place an unfair burden on some sections of the community.

The issue that concerns me most about the current land tax is that over the past 30 years exemptions have been granted for primary production properties and properties that are the principal place of residence of an owner. This has resulted in the taxpayer base reducing from about 450,000 taxpayers to 90,000 taxpayers who are left to carry the total tax burden. Whilst property values have escalated rapidly in the past five years and show no real sign of abatement, the land tax threshold and scale of rates have not been adjusted in line with this increase, apart from a tax relief package that was announced in February 2005 which has now been all but absorbed by further increases in property valuations.

Parts of the Land Tax Act need a complete overhaul to bring it into line with the 21st century. The state's rating base is flawed with inconsistencies in valuations and these flow through to the various rates and tax accounts issued by revenue authorities. As the valuation is the key component in any rate or tax account it is essential that valuations meet commercially acceptable accuracy standards and are relative to one another.

The state's rating base is maintained by the Valuer-General, who is an independent statutory authority responsible to parliament. The Valuer-General considers that staff numbers required to provide valuations on all properties have not been consistent with the increase in the number of properties to be valued. This, in itself, is not an acceptable defence for the lack of quality, relativity and accuracy of valuations being determined, and it is apparent that there have been no technological advancements in recent years which would normally offset staff reductions. It is quite noticeable that there has been an increase in bureaucratic procedures which place an additional burden, and an unfair burden, on the community when they exercise their right to secure justice.

I have noticed in the past decade that there has been a marked decline in service standards within the Public Service, particularly in areas in which I have been associated. There is no doubt that the majority of public servants provide excellent service but their efforts have been frustrated by bureaucratic processes developed and imposed on staff by increased layers of management which, in my opinion, add nothing to the process. I understand that reform of the Public Service is being examined by the former premier of Queensland, the Hon. Wayne Goss, and it is to be hoped that recommendations by this committee will streamline and cut red tape in the existing bureaucracy.

I believe we need to get back to a position where public servants have responsibility, matched with authority, to make decisions to enable them to act quickly and decisively in the interests of the community. They need not be dominated by antiquated and, in some cases, imported obsolete processes.

Finally, I am interested in anything that reduces the negative impact of poker machines in this state. Like former MLC the Hon. Nick Xenophon, I am alarmed at the increase in problem gamblers and consequential flow-on effects to their families. Mr Xenophon had a number of bills in the pipeline before he resigned, such as the Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Bill, the Summary Offences (Medical Examination of Suspects) Amendment Bill and a number of gambling related bills. It is my intention to continue with some of these bills. I have also agreed to work with him on issues that affect both South Australia and the commonwealth, such as fighting for the rights of asbestos victims and victims of crime.

I would like to finish by thanking my wife Tilly, whose support is unending, my staff Connie, Natalie and Jenny, who probably know more about this place than I do, and my fellow Legislative Council members for your warm welcome and encouragement. I look forward to working with you for at least the next six years so that together we may contribute to making South Australia the best place to live.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (17:06): In supporting the motion, I congratulate the Hon. John Darley on his maiden speech in this place and wish him all the best for a long and productive future in this chamber.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The Hon. M. PARNELL (17:06): I extend to John a welcome from the Greens. I was very pleased to hear him say that he will be judging issues on their merits, which is a trademark of those of us on the crossbenches. We can make the big parties cross when they say, 'What is your position on an issue?' and you reply to them, 'I have not heard the debate yet.' So, we look forward to having you join us on the sensible benches here in this chamber.

Motion carried.

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