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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-11-25 Daily Xml
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WILLUNGA BASIN PROTECTION BILL

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 12 May 2010.)

The Hon. M. PARNELL (17:09): I rise to support this bill. I note that this is the same bill that the Greens supported in October 2009. In some ways it is disappointing that the bill has come back. It would be nice to have a situation where the government had taken on board last year the message behind this bill, which is that we do need robust protective measures to make sure that important agricultural areas such as the Willunga Basin are protected from inappropriate development. If such measures were in place, we would not need to reconsider a bill such as this.

I do not propose to speak at any length. My contribution on 15 October 2009 is on the record. I am disappointed that the government has not seen fit, or if it has seen fit, it has not seen fit to share with us moves it is making to ensure that important agricultural and horticultural regions are protected from inappropriate development. We have had ample opportunity in the last year for the government to put in place measures in relation to the state planning strategy or other measures that would give these important peri-urban areas, if you like, that level of protection.

One of the disappointments that I continue to have with our planning system is the over-reliance on the concept of highest and best use of land. What that means is who can make the most money from a piece of land, and it does not take into account the long-term cost, the opportunity that is lost, if inappropriate short-term gain is the priority.

In a competition between food production and urban development, a competition fought out with chequebooks, property developers will nearly always win. But is the community better off? No, we are not. We do need a stronger level of protection for areas such as the Willunga Basin. When I spoke to this bill last year, I said that I was not necessarily convinced that this was the best model. There are lots of ways that we could protect the Willunga Basin, but this is one model. I know that the honourable mover has moved this in good faith to make sure that the issue of the protection of the Willunga Basin is firmly on the government's agenda.

I think the ball is in the government's court. The government needs to go back to some of the thinking behind documents such as the 30-year plan, the population projections, the overambitious projections that underpin that plan, and go back to the drawing board. Whilst at the drawing board, the government needs to get out a very thick black textacolour and draw some lines around areas that are inappropriate for urban development, not because they would not be nice places for houses—they would be—but because they are better places for food production. With those brief words, the Greens will be supporting this bill now as we supported it in 2009.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (17:12): The Liberal Party will also be supporting this bill. However, I understand that there has been an agreement that the bill be adjourned and discussed next year. The spokesperson on this issue, my leader the Hon. David Ridgway, is not here, so he is not able to present our view, but he will indicate that view in the new year.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.M. Gazzola.

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