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| Ian Gilfillan Australian Democrats Member of the Legislative Council |
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Legislative
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| Ian Gilfillan Australian Democrats Member of the Legislative Council |
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The Hon. IAN GILFILLAN: In speaking to the Bill, I restrict my observations to a particular concern of mine regarding the integrity and sanctity of the parklands. Whatever the merits of the ASER project as a development for South Australia—we cannot reverse and rewrite history—it is a classic case of proponents looking about, seeing open space which happens to be parklands, and regarding it as the most convenient and, in almost all cases, the cheapest venue on which to establish the development. It continues to be the pattern of the biggest threat to our having reasonable parklands as we move into the next millennium.
The other aspect that I would like to mention in relation to the proposal for the extension to the Convention Centre is the way that particular program and project has been promoted. When making an observation about it, I reflected with some appreciation on the efforts to dress up the river front and construct a walkway so that people could enjoy easier access across the lake. However, as is so often the case, there is a downside, and the enormous increase of the footprint of the Convention Centre, although part of it goes over existing railway tracks (again trespassing on parklands but unlikely to be restored as parklands), is a large intrusion north of the area that will be affected by the extension.
I repeat, as I will on any occasion that I have the chance, that we have to be eternally alert, vigilant, to the often heavily disguised intrusion onto parklands. They are limited. They are not growing. There is no natural expansion of the parklands area. However, there is an unnatural and much deplored diminution of the parklands in steady erosion, and I urge all members to be aware of that in any decisions that are made in this place and in their private or representative capacities outside this place. Once they are gone, they are gone. The sort of developments that ASER has duplicated have accounted for the loss of large areas of parklands with what are quite often significant, important and, in several cases, beautiful developments. One has only to look at the north side of North Terrace to the east of this building to understand that. However, the facts are the facts. Those areas were parklands, they were taken over because it was convenient at the time, and they will never return to parklands. With those observations, I am content to see whatever this Council does with the Bill, which is more in the hands of my colleague the Hon. Mike Elliott.See also Mike Elliott's second reading
speech on this Bill: 8 July 1999
and the Committee stage of the Bill: 29 July 1999
