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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-07-20 Daily Xml
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30-YEAR PLAN FOR GREATER ADELAIDE

The Hon. J.S. LEE (14:35): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Urban Development and Planning a question about the 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: On 6 July 2009, the Minister for Urban Development and Planning reviewed the 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide. The Minister for Urban Development and Planning stated that the 30-year plan will give South Australia one of the most competitive planning systems in Australia, while ensuring that it remains one of the most liveable, competitive and sustainable cities in the world. The minister also said that this strategic vision is also underpinned by the largest infrastructure spend in this state's history.

In The Advertiser of Monday 21 June 2010, the media reported that the development industry does not believe Adelaide will be able to meet the development targets in its 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide, unless dramatic changes are made to council and planning regulations. In the same article, the Minister for Urban Development and Planning acknowledged that it would be a challenge to achieve the 30-year plan's objectives.

On Tuesday 29 June 2010, Adelaidenow online news had the heading, 'South Australia infrastructure "falling apart" says Engineers Australia.' Engineers Australia has released a second five-yearly report card on the state's infrastructure. The state president said that ongoing under-investment was becoming apparent as half of the state's infrastructure is in need of major or critical improvement. He said:

It underpins our economic performance, it underpins the wellbeing of the community and it also underpins our economic strength so, if we don't invest, what we will find as a state, we slip further behind. It means our standard of living will slip and we will find overall we will become a less competitive place and a less attractive place to invest.

The PRESIDENT: The honourable member should ask her questions. This is an extremely exhausting explanation.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: My questions are, Mr President, thank you—

The PRESIDENT: Something that they don't tolerate at all in Western Australia, I might add.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: I am sure they would. My questions are:

1. How will the minister address the recommendations put forward by the Engineers Australia 2010 South Australia Infrastructure Report Card?

2. How will the minister link these recommendations to the government's 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister Assisting the Premier in Public Sector Management) (14:37): Along with the shadow minister and the Leader of the Opposition in this place, I was at the Engineers Australia luncheon where the infrastructure report card was launched, and I think this state did reasonably well in most areas of infrastructure. It actually had improving grades, if I recall. The one area which I think was a D-rating was in relation to dealing with issues of flooding and stormwater management, which essentially is a local government responsibility.

It is one where, when this government came to office, from memory, as little as $2 million was being spent, and one of the first things this Rann government did when it came to office more than eight years ago was to significantly increase that. Of course, we also set up the Stormwater Management Authority, and there have been a number of major projects. In fact, when you have had 150 years of development in the city and under-investment for much of the time, particularly in terms of building on the flood plain, you are not going to catch up overnight even when you do double the expenditure or increase it more rapidly than that, as this government has done.

The important thing about the 30-year plan is that, for the first time within this state, the government is looking at an integrated, cohesive plan for the future that does not just look at where the city will require land to grow but looks at sustainability issues such as water sensitive urban design and also the location of key infrastructure so that we can get the most efficient outcome. If you have this sort of ad hoc development, which we have had in some parts of this city over the past few decades, you do tend to get very inefficient outcomes in terms of getting the best spend for infrastructure.

Of course, the whole thrust of the 30-year plan is to congregate the growth around our transport corridors. Adelaide does have a rail network, major lines that are spread out from the city, but we are the last mainland city to electrify our rail lines. A significant proportion of the $2 billion in infrastructure that has been announced by the government is to electrify the rail lines, which will make it more attractive for people to live near those lines.

It will also enable us to redevelop many of those areas along those transport corridors, which will give us a very significant opportunity for increasing the population along those corridors without putting undue pressure on roads and other infrastructure. The 30-year plan has been very carefully crafted to ensure that we do get the best use of our existing infrastructure, and there is the significant $2 billion dollar investment associated with that infrastructure to ensure that it comes about.

With that said, my recollection of the Engineers Australia report card was that in many of the key areas, such as public transport and the like, the grades this state received were increasing. With the rollout of the government's infrastructure plan over the next few years, we would expect that to increase. Certainly, providing infrastructure for the future is going to be a challenge. The important thing is that it will be harder and harder to fund that infrastructure, and that is why it is important that we have good planning.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: We know how the opposition manage the budget: they were in deficit every year. You can always put stuff on the bankcard or sell off assets, but the trouble is that eventually you run out of assets to sell. The reality is that, if you are to provide for infrastructure, then you need to have a budget that can fund that as well as fund all the other requirements of government. We get members opposite all the time calling on this government to spend tens of millions—in some cases, hundreds of millions, or even billions of dollars, elsewhere—but they—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: That's right. During the last election campaign there were many, many areas were members opposite—

The Hon. R.I. Lucas interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Oh, I will talk about it, Mr Lucas—I will talk about it. I am very happy to talk about your period. The Hon. Mr Lucas was in this position for nearly as long as I was: for over eight years he was in this position. He was Treasurer of the state, and we know full well the sorts of tricks that that government was up to, particularly in relation to health. We have probably taken up enough of question time, much as I like to talk about the opposition's fiscal policies; it is a matter I am always happy to return to.

In relation to the 30-year plan and the engineers' report, this government believes we are on the right track, but no-one should underestimate the challenge that we face in the future in funding infrastructure.

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