Mike Elliott: Question on Beachport Boat Ramp

Extract from Hansard

Legislative Council
6 July 2001

Mike Elliott
Leader Australian Democrats
Member of the Legislative Council

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The Hon. M.J. ELLIOTT: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Transport and Urban Planning a question about the Beachport boat ramp.

The Hon. M.J. ELLIOTT: A few questions have been asked in this place about the Beachport boat ramp, and the most recent one that I have found was from the Hon. Angus Redford on 15 March. The impression I have from the answers that the minister has given in relation to the Beachport boat ramp so far is that, whilst planning approval had been given for the ramp, it could not proceed without funding, and the impression I gained was that the minister would not part with funding until after some assurances had been provided by the council as to whether or not it would accept all the risk should things go wrong in the construction of the Beachport boat ramp.

I have in recent days been contacted by residents of Beachport who are expressing a great deal of concern about the ramp. I indicated at that stage that I was under the impression that things had been approved and were going ahead. They were still uncertain as to the current position.

The Hon. M.J. ELLIOTT: Yes. I am seeking to ascertain whether or not at this stage the minister has received assurances from the council that it will accept full liability and responsibility for anything that might go wrong as a consequence of the construction of the Beachport boat ramp, particularly in the light of what we have seen happen at Glenelg and West Beach, and also what we saw when a breakwater was constructed at Port Macdonnell. They thought they did not have any sand at all and then found out that a great deal was going past. Will the minister say whether or not she has received assurances from the council and that, in the absence of such assurances, she will not give funding to facilitate the construction of the works? Is my understanding correct that, whilst the advice upon which the planning approval was granted was that the construction of the ramp would be okay, more recently some of the experts within government have been expressing concern in relation to its construction?

The Hon. DIANA LAIDLAW (Minister for Transport and Urban Planning): I am sure I provided this advice in answer to a question from the Hon. Terry Roberts, if not the Hon. Angus Redford, that the council had finally signed off in very specific terms, both in words and on a map, the area that it would accept responsibility for, and those terms were agreed by me as being appropriate and therefore advice was provided to Transport SA that the hold on the funds, that I had asked some time earlier to be placed, could be lifted.

The Hon. M.J. ELLIOTT: By way of supplementary question, will the minister tell us whether those terms and conditions are public and, if not, is she prepared to make them so?

The Hon. DIANA LAIDLAW: I am completely relaxed about making those terms and conditions public as I suspect the council, if you made a similar inquiry, would say the same.