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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-04-11 Daily Xml
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Northern Adelaide Irrigation Scheme

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (14:44): My question is to the Minister for Water and the River Murray. Will the minister please update the chamber on how the government is supporting and expanding the horticultural industry in the Northern Adelaide Plains region?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (14:45): The honourable member asks a very important question, and I thank him for it because it is very important for Adelaide, particularly the north of Adelaide, in terms of prospective jobs for the future. The government recognises the great capacity and expertise that exists in our horticultural industry in the Northern Adelaide Plains region, and how very important it is to grow the capacity for the social and economic future of those local communities.

The South Australian government is proposing to deliver large volumes of affordable recycled water to the Northern Adelaide Plains through the Northern Adelaide Irrigation Scheme (NAIS) in order to achieve this outcome. This additional water has the ability to transform the region into the national leader, and the intensive high-tech food production industries to support existing industries to expand and become more competitive, as well as drive employment growth and attract new skills and talent into our state.

Members of the industry would have access to this water to support an increase in horticultural production and exports, transforming the region into the national leader in intensive, high-tech food production, as I outlined, and in March of this year Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA) submitted an expression of interest to the Australian government's National Water Infrastructure Development Fund for $45.6 million in funding to support the development of the infrastructure required for the NAIS.

If the NWIDF funding is secured, the state government, through SA Water, will co-invest $110 million in this project. A decision on the NWIDF funding, I am advised, is expected mid-year, perhaps a little bit earlier, and it is now timely for all of us in this place and outside to begin an effort of lobbying our federal colleagues to ensure that the federal government sees the importance of this project, and that the fund is the ideal investment vehicle for that—the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund (that is what its purposes were when it was set up).

So, I encourage all members, and not just those opposite, to dip into their federal colleagues to make sure that they understand the importance of this project at a state level, particularly for the north of Adelaide, and how it will fit fairly and squarely into the sights of that funding stream. It is an opportunity that I do not think Northern Adelaide would like us to let go. It is a scheme they have welcomed and a scheme they wanted to see brought to fruition. Industry is on board. Yesterday, Mr Jordan Brook-Barnett, state manager of AUSVEG, said that:

We welcome it as a critical investment in Adelaide's north. For a long time the growers up there have been desperate for water necessary to grow for the future and this is a significant investment at $110 million. Clearly we're on board with Team SA, we'd like to see the federals come to the table...

NAIS is ready to go and just waiting on federal funding. With that federal government commitment to funding, construction of the NAIS can begin later this year, with the intention of recycled water flowing to irrigators from December 2018.

The combined investment of $155.6 million will be used to, first, upgrade the Bolivar Wastewater Treatment Plant to produce an additional 12 gigalitres of recycled water a year suitable for irrigation, an increase of about 60 per cent on what is currently produced, I am advised. Water distribution infrastructure will then be constructed north of the Gawler River to establish a major newer export-focused, high-tech horticultural production area.

This infrastructure will be designed and constructed to enable future expansion as demand increases and access to export markets grows, and in the future additional investment will enable the development of infrastructure to deliver an extra or additional eight gigalitres of recycled water a year from the Bolivar Wastewater Treatment Plant, taking the total of recycled water through this system up to 20 gigalitres.

This would further expand the region's horticultural industry and could provide water to the Barossa, for example, to support expansion of wine grape growing. NAIS supports the Northern Economic Plan by creating jobs for the Northern Adelaide Plains and outer northern suburbs of Adelaide. It also aligns with the state government's economic priorities of premium food and wine produced in a clean environment and exported to the world, growth through innovation and unlocking our resources, energy and renewables.

Producing fresh, premium food to meet changing consumer needs and ensuring a reliable and sustainable supply to meet global demand are two significant challenges facing Australia's horticultural industry in the 21st century. NAIS can assist with both of these challenges, and I look forward to a positive response from the federal government in the short term.

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