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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-09-23 Daily Xml
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LE CORNU SITE

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (14:53): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Leader of the Government a question about the Le Cornu site.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: For about 20 years the Labor Party and its various spokespersons (including shadow ministers, ministers, leaders and, in particular, candidates and members for the state seat of Adelaide) have opposed anything like a six-storey development on the Le Cornu site in North Adelaide. In particular, there are a number of statements from Premier Rann and the member for Adelaide Ms Jane Lomax-Smith (and others) expressing that point of view in a number of ways. I have also been advised that, approximately three years ago, the minister approved the City of Adelaide plan, which imposed a strict limit of three storeys on the Le Cornu site.

As we know, last week the minister and the government announced a significant change in policy for the site with the go-ahead for a significant six-storey development on the Le Cornu site. A number of constituents have approached me and asked questions as to the reasons for the government's change of policy of some 20 years in relation to this site. Some have noted that companies associated with the developers (the Makris companies) have donated some $261,000 over five years to the Australian Labor Party and, in particular, in the financial year 2005-06 (prior to the last state election) $180,000 was channelled into the Labor Party through four separate companies in the electoral disclosure returns.

My attention has also been drawn to comments from the Chief Executive of the Makris Group of Companies, Mr John Blunt, who was responding to a question from David Bevan about why the Makris Group chose to donate to Labor. Mr Blunt frankly replied:

I mean, we have got business interests as well, so we want good governance. We want to see things happen in this state.

Matthew Abraham interjected and said, 'You want to be looked after, too.' Mr Blunt said:

Yeah, we want to make our projects happen, that's for sure. But, you know, that's a part of the way the system—you know, politics works here.

I note: that is not a statement from me but from the Chief Executive of the Makris Group of Companies, who—

The Hon. B.V. Finnigan interjecting:

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Well, for as long as you would like to listen to it, the Hon. Mr Finnigan. My questions are:

1. Is it correct that, approximately three years ago, the minister approved the City of Adelaide plan, which imposed a strict three-storey limit on the Le Cornu site?

2. If the minister is claiming that this significant change of policy of some 20 years had nothing to do with the donations of $261,000 given to his party, can he explain to this chamber and to the public the reason he has made this significant change in government policy to now allow a six-storey development on the Le Cornu site?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (14:57): How pathetic that the ex-leader of the opposition should ask a question involving a quote which was made almost 12 months ago and which he quoted at that time; in fact, it might have been more than 12 months ago. I think it was in May last year that Mr Blunt made those comments and—

The Hon. R.I. Lucas interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Well, I don't know; you would have to ask Mr Blunt what he meant by it. What I can say is that the government has approved the development on the Le Cornu site. The original approach from the Makris Group was for a building of some nine storeys. The government said that that would be too large for the site, notwithstanding the fact that we have just had the redevelopment of the former Hotel Adelaide, which I think is nine storeys, and there is also the Brougham Place development around the corner, which is about the same—

The Hon. B.V. Finnigan interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Well, that's the Brougham Place one, which is about the same size. The fact is, as the planning review has recently shown, the city has two options to cope with the future population growth we face: we either sprawl outwards or we increase urban density, which means that we go higher, or we build on urban development. They are the options, or some combination of each of them. The planning review has set aspirational targets into it. If we are to move away from our reliance on urban sprawl, we have to have more intense development, and that is exactly what this development does.

I do note that, in recent days, the Liberal Party has apparently supported this development, which I would hope it would do after 20 years of inactivity on this site. The Le Cornu site has become a symbol of inactivity. So, to get that development going, this government supported a major development proposal to examine, with the most rigorous form of assessment under the Development Act, that site.

It has been quite erroneously reported in the media that major development status is in some way fast tracking the process. It took something like 15 months to go through a very rigorous development assessment. As a result of that assessment, a number of changes have been made to the proposal, including additional car parking and extra screening, and a number of reserve matters are subject to approval, which will require greater energy efficiency of the building. Also, there are, of course, requirements in relation to operating hours for the restaurants and so on located in the building. Also, the function centre has been removed from the plan. All of that came about as a result of the approaches the government had received from members of the public during this very rigorous assessment process. I make no apology for approving this project.

Of course, the real reason the Hon. Rob Lucas has been so outspoken on this matter is that he wants to get back at his principal enemy, Mr Martin Hamilton-Smith, the Leader of the Opposition. He wants to damage his chances by slamming all the developers in Adelaide, and that is his motive for doing this, and everyone knows it. We all know what motivates Rob Lucas. Why would you stay in this parliament when, after 26 years, you have been demoted to the back bench? He wants vengeance.

That is what this is all about. He has his mates in the media, Greg Kelton and Michael Owen, to peddle his line. That is what this is all about, and everyone in Adelaide knows it. We have seen an example of it here. That is what we have. He can go and do what he likes, but at the end of the day it is the people of Adelaide who will decide whether they want to vote for a government that gets things done after 20 years of inactivity, or they can vote for members opposite, who dwell in the past. It will be their choice in March 2010.

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