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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-02-13 Daily Xml
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Future Jobs Fund Grant

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL (14:44): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Treasurer—

The PRESIDENT: Is leave granted?

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL: —about—

The Hon. R.P. Wortley interjecting:

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL: About—

The PRESIDENT: Leave has not come yet. I am waiting for the Hon. Mr Wortley to finish whatever he is saying.

The Hon. R.P. Wortley: I'm trying to wake up the Treasurer.

The PRESIDENT: Thank you for showing concern to the other side of the chamber, the Hon. Mr Wortley, but I am sure they can look after themselves.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL: The leave I sought was to ask the Treasurer a question about grants under the Future Jobs Fund. In February last year, the former government announced a number of grants under the Future Jobs Fund, including a grant of $832,000 to the Australian Walking Company to develop 'luxury tent-style eco-sensitive accommodation and other facilities on the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail', which is within the Flinders Chase National Park. In August last year, the new Treasurer issued a media release which stated:

After receiving legal advice, Mr Lucas said the former government’s offers would be honoured but he had asked treasury officials to seek terms and conditions with grant recipients, where possible, to offer additional security for taxpayers.

According to the SA Tenders and Contracts website a contract was executed by the present government with the Australian Walking Company on 1 December last year for a grant of $916,000 for the operation of walking tours and the construction of accommodation facilities. Two weeks prior to that date, on 15 November last year, the Australian Walking Company lodged a number of development applications with the State Planning Commission for accommodation, including one for nine permanent buildings—so not tents—on coastal cliffs near Sandy Creek in the Flinders Chase National Park, which is at least three kilometres as the crow flies from the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail and which will require the construction of 10 kilometres of new roads and trails within the national park to service the development. My questions of the Treasurer are:

1. What steps has the Treasurer taken to ensure that the proposed development is consistent with the original intent of the grant, which was to provide accommodation on the wilderness trail not three kilometres from it?

2. Will the Treasurer publish the full terms and conditions of the grant to the Australian Walking Company?

3. Will the Treasurer request his colleagues, the Minister for Planning and the Minister for Environment, to publish the development applications for these new private buildings within Flinders Chase National Park, because the development applications are currently being kept secret?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:47): I am very happy to see what additional information I can provide to the honourable member within the constraints that may or may not exist within the terms of the funding formula or grant that was provided. The honourable member correctly quotes me, I suspect, in saying that in general terms the new government's position was that where there had been either a firm contract provided or a firm commitment given by the former government we would honour those particular commitments.

So I suspect that from the new government's viewpoint, this particular one, although I don't have much detailed recollection of this particular one—there were so many of them; it's pretty hard to keep track of. I am quite happy to seek further advice from my department and others in relation to the questions the member has raised and bring back a reply as soon as I can.

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