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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-10-14 Daily Xml
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Adelaide Electorate

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (15:36): I have called the streets of the capital we live in home for many years and I am proud to be the opposition shadow assistant minister for the City of Adelaide. Like the local member for Adelaide, I attend many events within the city, and I will be honest: the member for Adelaide is everywhere. But it is unfortunate that I am about to give a very big but to that.

No matter what side of politics your local member falls on, you would hope that they are doing all they can to be the loudest voice at the decision-making table, that they are advocating through all forms of correspondence and meeting requests, and keeping promises they made while asking for the community to trust them with their vote.

For almost a year, I have worked with the Walkerville community who are looking for answers regarding the future of the beloved YMCA site on Smith Street. The YMCA has been part of the Walkerville community for over 60 years. Generations have come and gone through the front door of this facility that has created memories through their gymnastics programs and the indoor courts programs. Importantly, the local surrounding businesses have also benefited from the economic flow from this facility.

The local member, Minister Rachel Sanderson, has stood in the other place and grandstanded at about how she will do everything in her power to support the YMCA—everything. When the community called on my office to investigate the recent bungled and nothing but embarrassing process undertaken by the Walkerville council to revoke the community land status of this site, I came across something that honestly surprised me.

I received a large bundle of papers and reports through an FOI to the Minister for Local Government. While riffling through these papers of petitions and letters of support to keep the YMCA site, I did not once come across a piece of correspondence from the local member, Rachel Sanderson.

I am not one to jump to conclusions, so I put in another FOI to the Minister for Local Government to ask specifically if there was any correspondence, any meetings, any electronic briefings, diary entries, emails between the local member for Adelaide, Rachel Sanderson, and the Minister for Local Government regarding the revocation of this site. But not one document was found on the local member. Unfortunately, this uncovered a disappointing theme.

Further FOIs were submitted on many of the key issues within the Adelaide electorate community, including the Whitmore Square master plan. No correspondence or diary requests were found by the City of Adelaide, despite the local member promoting this in her recent newsletter. There was also the Ovingham Overpass. Two documents were found, but no correspondence to voice the concerns of the community. The only two items of correspondence found were to the department's office advocating for her own interests to use taxpayers' money to ask the following questions regarding a community forum about this issue:

Please advise and provide a draft copy of the FLYER before letterboxing by DPTI about where this forum will be held…The venue to be held in the Adelaide electorate…A suggestion by Rachel, perhaps it can be held at the Austrian Club.

There was also a description of the area where the letterboxing would be distributed—all on the taxpayers' money. Further, road safety is a significant issue within the electorate of Adelaide, especially around schools in Prospect. However, since 1 April 2018 not one document has been sent to the Minister for Road Safety from the local member.

Then there is the minister's broken promise of a sound abatement wall on Park Terrace. Members of this community changed their vote purely on the basis that the member had promised, in the lead-up to the election, that she would build a sound abatement wall. This went from a promise in 2018 to build a sound abatement wall on Park Terrace to a budget commitment in 2018 from the member that she would build a barrier on Hawker Street and Park Terrace.

Recently, it has been announced that it would be an amenity wall that would not even reduce the sound of traffic. As described by local business owner Aaron, it is nothing but an unwanted retaining wall.

Time expired.

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