Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-09-21 Daily Xml

Contents

SA Water Infrastructure

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (15:15): Yes, it is definitely arising out of the answer. Was the $100,000—because he is talking about money the government has put in—for the citizens' jury, that the minister put up, a complete waste of taxpayer funds?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (15:15): How can it ever be a waste of taxpayer funds to sit down and consult with and talk to local communities? Impossible. That is exactly what we should be doing. The honourable member just discards that as being totally irrelevant. Government should be out consulting and talking to our local communities. That is what we do day in, day out. It is only this government that actually takes the aspirations of our community to heart, certainly not their local members in the Liberal Party, who take those country seats totally for granted.

Having looked at the paper yesterday, clearly the Liberal Party is under severe attack in those country seats, which they absolutely take for granted. You have the Hon. David Ridgway in here yesterday, saying that government expenditure in Bordertown was a waste. That is what he was saying: government expenditure in Bordertown was a waste. It is only this government that has a commitment to going out into the community, particularly into regional South Australia, and listening to them and their concerns. The Liberal opposition in this place just take them for granted.