Seafood Industry

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (14:42): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries a question relating to seafood processors in Port Lincoln.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: Seafood processors in Port Lincoln have indicated that they could face financial ruin in some cases under new requirements imposed on them by SA Water in relation to saline waste. It has been alleged that SA Water does not have the capacity to treat saline water at their treatment plants in the area and, as such, have effectively asked the industry to foot the bill for this activity.

Stephen Moriarty, the chairman of the action group which has been formed to fight this issue, has publicly stated that the new restrictions related to saline discharges and monitoring requirements have gone too far. Under the newly introduced framework, saline discharges have been classed as an unauthorised trade waste. Unfortunately for the industry, best practice for transportation of fish for production involves slurries made up of sea water and ice, thus creating a situation where a processor has an excess of saline to discharge but is not able to do so in order to meet the strict new regulations.

In order to meet these regulations, businesses have had to purchase costly monitoring equipment which, as it has been reported, is somewhere in the vicinity of $30,000 up to $100,000, once installed, depending on the particular model. This cost burden to business is said to be too high on their part and many smaller operators simply will not be able to survive under these circumstances. Further to that, it has been alleged that the equipment used is, in fact, very unreliable in determining exactly what the reading is in many cases. My questions to the minister are:

1. What criteria were used to determine which monitoring systems industry should purchase?

2. What efforts did the government make to ensure that the compliance with regulations would not cause an unscrupulous cost burden on business?

3. What, if any, period was given for compliance before business incurred the punitive costs associated?

4. What capacity does SA Water have to treat saline water at their Port Lincoln plant?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:45): I thank the honourable member for his most important questions. They are to the Minister for the Environment, rather than the Minister for Agriculture, and I am sure he will respond to that as soon as he can.