Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-07-03 Daily Xml

Contents

Site Contamination, Clovelly Park and Mitchell Park

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (14:32): I have supplementary question arising out of the answer. The information that I have read comes from a press release from 12 April from the EPA, and my supplementary question to the minister is: given that he has indicated that the residents are being moved because the recent test results show that they had TCE concentrations slightly higher than two micrograms per cubic metre, why didn't he take action more than 12 months ago, prior to the state election, when he had information that three properties had TCE concentrations above two micrograms per cubic metre?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:33): Mr President—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Minister, do you want to sit down? A supplementary question has been asked of the minister and he has got to his feet to answer that question, so at least allow him to answer it in silence. We are all interested in the answer. The honourable minister.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Once again I advise the honourable member that the government is acting in a precautionary way. The advice to the government from the senior officials last week was that, in an abundance of caution, we should offer relocation to the residents in that area, the 25 homes that are impacted, and that is what the government is doing. We are talking about relocation and mitigation to those people right now. I understand the Housing Trust is in the process of making appointments to do follow-up appointments for next week with those residents and we will continue to keep them informed of the process.