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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-05-12 Daily Xml
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Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act Regulations

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. M.C. Parnell:

That the general regulations under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 concerning Planning and Development Fund (No. 2) Variation, made on 18 March 2021 and laid on the table of this council on 30 March 2021, be disallowed.

(Continued from 31 March 2021.)

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (18:04): Labor supports this motion to disallow the general regulations made under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 made on 18 March 2021 and laid on the table of this council on 30 March 2021. I also note that this is not the first time the Labor opposition has given support for this motion, or similar motions. In fact, we have on several previous occasions.

We support this disallowance because these regulations will allow the Minister for Planning to continue to use funds from the Planning and Development Fund to prop up his failed planning reforms. Members will be aware that under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016, applicants who create new developments are required to pay into the Planning and Development Fund. They pay in moneys to enable projects to be undertaken to improve the public realm.

Money paid into the fund is derived from cash payments in lieu of open space for the development involving the division of land into less than 20 allotments and for strata and community titles. The Planning and Development Fund, more commonly known as the open space fund, is meant to be a resource for projects to make our streets and suburbs more livable by developing reserves, planting trees, constructing water harvesting projects and building playgrounds.

Instead, the Marshall Liberal government has been diverting resources from the open space fund to prop up the mismanaged planning reforms and the error-ridden ePlanning system. So far, this reform process has been plagued by a series of crises that have led to massive staff resignation, missed deadlines and massive budget blowouts. It is not surprising that the Liberal government is trying to cover up their budget overruns by raiding other budget lines, but in this case they are raiding a fund designed to improve the amenity of our communities.

The open space fund is there for the specific purpose of improving the conservation, enhancement and enjoyment of public open spaces and to provide communities with access to quality green public open space for the positive health and wellbeing of our communities. Open space and green parklands are what make our capital city so beautiful. They speak to the vision laid out by Colonel Light in 1837, and those principles speak to the enjoyment and lifestyle South Australians love. While we are one of the most livable cities in the world, our backyards, parks and reserves also foster communities by allowing neighbours, friends and families to connect.

Throughout much of 2020, when many in our communities were asked to work from home, community space became more valued than ever before. Open green spaces for community use that were within walking distance from home were cherished by local neighbourhoods, and data shows that, following COVID, people are choosing to move to greener spaces, particularly in the Adelaide Hills. We can see that people crave green space and are willing to move for it, but we need green space in all of our communities. That is what this fund was intended to do: improve and increase green open spaces in our communities.

The Auditor-General's annual report revealed that the planning department last financial year took $12.9 million from the open space fund to pay for its new planning system. The transfer of moneys from the open space fund is on top of the nearly $10 million taken from the fund in the previous two financial years to finance the new Planning and Design Code.

We heard in the Budget and Finance Committee that the government has earmarked more money from this fund to pay for its planning reforms. Evidence given in this committee confirmed that the government intends to use $25.5 million in total to pay for their planning reforms. This, of course, has serious implications for the local government sector and the moneys available to continue to provide the green open spaces that communities rightfully expect.

I place on the record today Labor's support for this disallowance motion. Labor will not stay silent while the open space fund is being misused by the planning minister to prop up the budget shortfalls in the development and implementation of the planning code, which is why we will support this disallowance. We congratulate the original mover, the Hon. Mark Parnell, and the new mover, the Hon. Robert Simms on bringing this to the chamber.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (18:09): It is deja vu all over again. The government opposes the motion, but we recognise that we do not have the numbers in the council. Without repeating the arguments that have been oft mentioned by government ministers who have represented the government's position in the past, the government's position is legally allowed under the provisions of the fund and the government has acted lawfully on all counts.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (18:09): I thank the Labor Party for their support of this disallowance. While this is my first time speaking to this disallowance in former member, the Hon. Mark Parnell's name, members will note, as stated by the Hon. Emily Bourke, that this is the seventh time that this disallowance has been moved—the seventh time. I am hopeful that this will be the last time the Legislative Council agrees to disallow the regulation that allows the raiding of the open space fund, otherwise known as the Planning and Development Fund, for the purposes of general administration.

It seems extraordinary to me that the government continues to refuse to accept the will of this chamber and has done so six times now. I think it sets a very dangerous precedent for our democracy when the upper house knocks back a piece of legislation and the government just ploughs ahead and says, 'Well, we don't care what they say. We are just going to go ahead and do what we want.'

The true purpose of this fund is to provide community facilities such as public parks, gardens, footpaths and cycle paths. It is not intended for general administration. That was never the intended focus of this fund. The fund is primarily comprised of cash contributions from developers in lieu of them providing physical land for public open space. The money goes into a pool and it is allocated to appropriate projects that help build our common public spaces, those that actually benefit the whole community.

It is really concerning to us in the Greens that during a time when we have parks and recreational areas that we need to support to achieve community health and wellbeing, the government is diverting those funds away, raiding this fund to put them into general administration, and, in particular, the administration of a government agency that is totally inappropriate and totally at odds with the intention of this scheme.

I might say, in concluding my remarks, that during COVID-19, many members of the community have relied on our public green space as a way of improving their community health and wellbeing. I think it is a terrible lack of leadership to see this fund being squandered in this way, and I urge the government to think again.

Motion carried.

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