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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-09-08 Daily Xml
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Regional Council Amalgamations

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (14:21): My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development regarding regions. Does the minister support the Premier's push to amalgamate the City of Mount Gambier council and the District Council of Grant?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:22): I thank the honourable member for her question; however, the basis of her question is incorrect. The Premier's push is to involve local communities in having a say over directions they may want to take. In fact, I found it quite remarkable to see one of the honourable member's federal colleagues—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —claiming concerns about a lack of consultation, given that this is about consultation.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: This is about consultation. Every registered voter—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Every registered voter in the City of Mount Gambier and the District Council of Grant—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Minister, sit down, please. I could hear nothing that the minister actually said in regard to trying to give an answer then. The opposition have asked a question. I expect to be able to hear the answer. Minister, please continue.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Thank you, Mr President. As I was saying, this is all about consultation. This is about ensuring that every voter who is on the electoral roll—

An honourable member interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: It's very hard for me to listen to you with any sense of seriousness with this, alright?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —for the council elections can have a say on whether they want the possibility of an amalgamation to be further investigated. If they don't want the possibility of an amalgamation to be further investigated then they will vote no. I found it quite remarkable that a member of the honourable member's—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —federal team wanted to complain that, supposedly, there wasn't consultation. So he wants consultation about consultation. Perhaps he would like consultation about consultation about consultation about the consultation that's happening. It was quite a remarkable kind of comment that he made. What I think is incredibly—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —relevant is that this is the way that those opposite are trying to position themselves as caring about the regions. We know what happened in the previous government. We had local people in the Limestone Coast—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Continue, minister—

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Thank you.

The PRESIDENT: —but it's not an unlimited time.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: I know those opposite don't like to hear the truth but what we had in the previous Liberal government—

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Leader!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —was it being so absent from regional areas, such as the Limestone Coast, we had people asking why on earth their Premier was not there, and why is it that they waited, looking forward to a Liberal government, only to find that the Liberal government ignored them, to find that the former Premier ignored them, to find that the #RegionsMatter was nothing more than a hashtag?

It's interesting; this is not just me saying this. If we look at the Leech report about the Liberals' performance, on page 7 the report states, 'It's important that the Liberal Party regain the confidence of rural South Australia.' They pointed out how popular country cabinets had been to regional residents. One of the recommendations of the Leech report stated—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order, the Government Whip and the Leader of the Opposition! Order, enough! Minister, please conclude your remarks so that we can move on.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Thank you. I'm hoping they might be heard. On page 31 of the Leech report it said, 'The Liberal Party needs to re-engage with its dwindling rural support base.' We saw many Liberal MPs receive double-digit swings against them because the Liberal Party—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —stopped listening to residents in the regions. They stopped listening to residents in the regions just like—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Minister—

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —those opposite refuse to listen now.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Minister, sit down. Order!

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: Point of order.

The PRESIDENT: You have a point of order, I will listen to it.

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: I do question the relevance of that report in regard to—we were talking about the council of Grant, so can we please focus on that area.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! There is no point of order. Continue, but conclude, please, so that we can move on.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Just a hint: the Limestone Coast is regional. Maybe just a little point to note there that when we're talking about engagement with regional residents. We are very much looking forward to local people being able to have a say and express their opinion when it comes to the potential to investigate an amalgamation between the District Council of Grant and the City of Mount Gambier. It is entirely up to the residents of the local area to talk and have their voices heard.

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