Water Industry Alliance Smart Water Awards

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (14:44): My question is to the Minister for Water and the River Murray. Will the minister update the Legislative Council on the winners of the recent Water Industry Alliance Smart Water Awards and their important contribution to the water sector?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:44): I can advise the honourable member that I am overjoyed to be able to do so and thank him for his important question. It was my very great pleasure to have joined many representatives of the water industry at the annual Water Industry Alliance Smart Water Awards. The awards ceremony was held on Friday 23 May at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

The WIA was established in 1998 as an industry cluster of water-related organisations with a focus on growing member business and the water sector. The members of the alliance include international water companies, national firms and well-established local companies. I am told the WIA now has over 170 members. These are companies, research and education institutions and government departments that span a diverse breadth of the water sector in this state.

It has grown annual exports of South Australian water technology and management services from $25 million to over $511 million, and with accumulated exports I am advised now that it is sitting at $2.9 billion. The WIA held its inaugural award ceremony in 2004, and over the past 11 years the awards have been sponsored by numerous generous supporters. Over 70 companies have been recognised for their important contributions throughout these prestigious awards. Such events provide an opportunity to take stock of how much we have achieved as an industry over the years.

It was also a great chance to celebrate and promote WIA members, allowing them to showcase their successes and capabilities as industry leaders. I was very impressed by the significant achievements of the sector and its depth of expertise, entrepreneurship and capacity to innovate. South Australia has been at the forefront of water sector reform and policy in Australia for at least the last 10 years, and this has been driven in part, of course, by necessity in response to the millennium drought, but it is also in recognition of the importance of water to our economy and our environment and our communities.

Of course, our particular circumstances, being the driest state in the driest continent, mean that we need to focus much more on water than others. There have been many achievements over the past years that we can all be proud of, and I am thinking of such achievements as the establishment and ongoing implementation of Water for Good, the signing of the Murray-Darling Basin Agreement, significant investments in stormwater harvesting and re-use schemes, modernising the state's water supply legislation, the adoption of water allocation plans for the Western Mount Lofty Ranges and the Limestone Coast, and the construction of the Adelaide desalination plant.

These achievements have been made possible through strong partnerships with the water industry, the local government sector, researchers and the broader community. These achievements illustrate the importance of industry clusters such as the WIA. The WIA Smart Water Awards are made up of six categories, and the independent judging panel had the very difficult task of choosing the winner from an impressive field of nominations. The panel included national and state-based experts from industry and government.

The winners are chosen based on factors such as innovation, design, and the level of contribution and benefit each applicant has made to the water industry. An award can be presented for a specific project or policy or product or service or an alliance, but they can also recognise outstanding business growth, entering into a new market or an outcome from research and development.

The winner of the Irrigation and Use category was Sentek, the all-in-one soil moisture, salinity and temperature management solution. Sentek Technology is an Australian-based company that has produced a range of sensing solutions that allows irrigators to manage their day-to-day irrigation. The judges commented that the data is received and available through a mobile phone app, giving the farmer complete and up-to-date data wherever and whenever he or she wants to increase productivity.

The winner of the Resource Management Award was Factor UTB, Matua Marlborough winery wastewater treatment plant. UTB is a small South Australian team which has designed and built 36 wastewater treatment plants since 2011, with many of these treating winery wastewater. As the judges accurately put it:

Delivering infrastructure involves managing a lot of risk—construction, process, bad weather, foreign exchange and it is always hard working overseas.

The delivery of this new wastewater plant by a South Australian company in New Zealand is a testament to the management and process skills here in South Australia.

The important Leadership Award went to Waterfind for its Waterfind Forward Water Market. Waterfind's core business is to facilitate the buying and selling of both temporary and permanent water across the major irrigation regions in Australia. The company offers a fully integrated water brokerage service, which includes water trading, contract documentation, conveyancing and settlement.

The TRILITY Planning and Delivery Award was presented to a joint project between KBR and SA Water for PMP Solutions. The project is entitled 'Combining cultural and strategic initiatives to achieve delivery certainty, continual improvement and innovation'. The judges explained:

Interfaces between private contractors and a large utility can be very difficult for a lot of reasons. KBR has provided a sensible and pragmatic link and has earned respect from all parties.

In this category, a high commendation was also awarded to Environmental Water Services for safe and cost-effective sanitation for transient communities. I had the pleasure of presenting the Minister's Award for Water and Climate Change Leadership to Environmental Water Services for their project: Safe and cost-effective sanitation using significant local content for developing countries.

Environmental Water Services is a South Australian company that constructed a 1,500-person wastewater treatment plant for the federal government offshore processing centre on Nauru Island. During this process, Environmental Water Services demonstrated climate change leadership by using an energy efficient design. It was designed to work within any type of tank, including those manufactured in developing countries, greatly reducing carbon emissions related to transport.

Finally, the 2014 Chairman's Award was presented to Ms Karlene Maywald, former South Australian minister for water and the River Murray, board member of SA Water and Chair of the National Water Commission. Karlene looked quite stunned with surprise when her name was called out. This award was a well-deserved award in recognition of her exceptional services to the water industry, both in South Australia and nationally.

This is an impressive list that demonstrates the breadth of activity being undertaken within the water industry. Water will certainly remain a critical part of our agenda for the next four years. This agenda will include activity designed to diversify our economy and provide employment growth. We have a significant opportunity now to build on the achievements of the past decade. The type of cutting edge research and innovation that is reflected in the awards system by the winners and others who submitted for the categories, in collaboration with international partners, will play an important part in future water development.

This government will also develop an integrated urban water management plan for Greater Adelaide. This will put South Australia in a position to maximise the economic, social and environmental opportunities that exist from our six sources of urban water, providing more efficient and better water services to the community and to leverage a range of important economic and social outcomes.

In keeping with the important partnership approach that has been a key to our success in the past, the integrated urban water management plan for Greater Adelaide will be developed in full consultation with local government, industry and the community. In addition to urban water, I am also committed to the full implementation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, strengthening and improving our water allocation planning arrangements and setting new directions for addressing climate change. All of these priorities will require an ongoing and strong relationship with the community and industry and with groups such as the members of the Water Industry Alliance.

I congratulate all the winners of this year's Smart Water Awards. I also commend the Water Industry Alliance for its important contribution to the sector and look forward to working within the ongoing implementation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.