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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-10-28 Daily Xml
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Weather Forecasting

The Hon. S.L. GAME (14:55): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before directing a question to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development regarding the government providing better weather data for South Australian grain farmers.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.L. GAME: The Bureau of Meteorology's website has undergone a $4 million revamp that went live last week. In a related report in The Advertiser on 25 October, Grain Producers SA Chief Executive, Brad Perry, said his group, which represents four and a half thousand of the state's grain growers, would rather see that investment in accurate weather forecasting than the bureau's website. In its 2025-26 budget submission, Grain Producers SA called for funding for Eyre Peninsula to have its own Doppler radar, a specialised tool which, in addition to giving the location of objects like precipitation, can also calculate the speed and direction of those objects, providing high quality and accurate data.

Earlier this year, RDA Eyre Peninsula reiterated its goal of securing a Doppler radar for the region, rather than rely on information from Adelaide plus a radar in far west Ceduna, while way back in 2020 the then mayor of Port Lincoln also outlined the case for a Doppler radar in the region. My questions to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development are:

1. Given the difficult South Australian farming conditions of the past two years, the fact that the Western Australian government has funded a Doppler radar and ongoing negativity about the presentation and accuracy of the BOM website, will the government commit to funding a Doppler radar for the crucial grain growing region of Eyre Peninsula, which provides nearly 50 per cent of the state's grain output?

2. What message does the continued refusal to fund a Doppler radar send to the Eyre Peninsula community and, more broadly, to South Australian food producers?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:57): I thank the honourable member for her question. I recall being contacted by, I think, the council, but also a number of discussions with Grain Producers SA and others on Eyre Peninsula, including when I visited there probably 18 months ago. If I recall correctly, I wrote to the relevant federal body seeking a Doppler radar to be installed on Eyre Peninsula or, if not, an explanation as to why that was not considered appropriate. I am happy to look back on what that was and continue to advocate on this matter.

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