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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-09-08 Daily Xml
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Leigh Creek

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (15:04): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation questions about the closure of the Leigh Creek mine.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: It has now been three months since Alinta announced the closure of the Leigh Creek mine and it is very likely that the mine will be closed within two months from now. The minister issued a press release on 19 August detailing the government's response to the closure. My questions to the minister are:

1. What is the government's plan for the future of the Leigh Creek township and when will it be released?

2. Given the minister's portfolio or area of responsibility, why has he been put in charge of this plan?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:04): I thank the honourable member for his important question, and indeed his interest in regional matters and regional development matters. As I have informed the chamber before, it is on a number of occasions that I have run into him in regional South Australia at events, and when I have told the room that he is a friend of mine I think it has harmed him more than it has harmed me, so I will continue to do that.

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink: It's bad for both of your reputations.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Yes, it is bad, as the Hon. Michelle Lensink does rightly point out: it is bad for both of our reputations, so I really ought to stop doing that.

In relation to the Leigh Creek coalmine and the associated Leigh Creek township, the honourable member is correct that Alinta Energy between two and three months ago made an announcement to say that they intended to close the coalmine and the Port Augusta power station. I think March 2018 was the latest date, the initial time frame. More recently, they have brought that back (I think it's the latest date), the window closing to about March 2017; however, it could be significantly earlier than that, as the honourable member points out.

I have been up a number of times to both Port Augusta and Leigh Creek. The day after Alinta made their announcement, we had the first representatives of our Upper Spencer Gulf and Outback Taskforce on the ground in Leigh Creek consulting with and talking with the community. My last visit was about three weeks ago, where a number of residents in the Leigh Creek township and also business owners were very keen for as much certainty as possible.

So, certainly as quickly as we can this year, we will be seeking to look at what Alinta will keep doing in terms of services for the township, and their obligations to provide certain services, and what it is that the government will be able to announce in terms of providing our services to that township both in the short and medium term at least. We do recognise that Leigh Creek is an important service centre. Lyndhurst, Copley, Nepabunna, and then further away Iga Warta and other Aboriginal communities use Leigh Creek as a service centre.

There are pastoral stations that also use Leigh Creek as a service centre, and it is an important intermodal hub at really the start of the Strzelecki Track, where it branches off from Lyndhurst just above Leigh Creek, so we are working with the Leigh Creek township. We recognise the continuing shortening time frames that Alinta are putting on their decisions, so we are speeding up our work to make sure that we can give as much certainty as possible when Alinta makes that decision at some stage in the coming months about the closure of Leigh Creek.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: Supplementary, Mr President.

The PRESIDENT: Supplementary, the Hon. Mr Stephens.

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