9 February 2023

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question without notice to the Minister for Regional Development on the topic of regional health services.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: It was reported yesterday that SA Pathology was restructuring, with 30 nurses being moved to other parts of the healthcare system. Eight of those nurses are from regional areas. This morning, on ABC radio, Elizabeth Dabars from the Nursing and Midwifery Federation said, and I quote:

This proposal looks to completely eliminate a nursing presence out in country South Australia.

'Completely eliminate', Mr President. My question to the minister, therefore, is:

1. Does the minister believe that having no SA Pathology nurses in regional communities is acceptable?

2. What action is she taking to ensure that this calamity is averted?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries): I thank the honourable member for his question. I am happy to check, but I think the item to which he is referring is a consultation paper rather than a decision of the government. However, health, of course, is looked after by my colleague in the other place so I am more than happy to refer that direct question to him and bring back a response for the honourable member.

I am in frequent discussions with my colleagues in the other place about the various portfolio areas that they have responsibility for but which, of course, have direct impacts on regional South Australia. Some of the feedback that I have had in my many visits around the state have been positive in terms of the election commitments that were made by the Malinauskas Labor government, which we are in the process of fulfilling in terms of giving health a very high priority. In terms of this particular matter, I am happy to bring back an answer.

Reply received on 21 March 2023:

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries): The Minister for Health and Wellbeing has been advised:

SA Pathology has commenced consultation on the delivery of pre-analytical services across the state, including all functions of pathology testing before the specimen reaches the laboratory. No decision has been made on the final structure.

There will be no redundancies as part of this proposal.

8 February 2023

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question without notice to the Minister for Regional Development on the topic of bank closures in the region.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: Last week, The Advertiser reported that Westpac is closing their bank branch in Coober Pedy later this month, leaving the town without any bank. Over the last seven years, at least 50 regional bank branches have closed in South Australia. At least 22 towns have been left without a bank branch at all, including places such as Angaston, Burra, Kapunda, Mannum, Roxby Downs, Strathalbyn, Tailem Bend and Willunga.

Last week, the ATM at Coober Pedy ran out of cash. As a result, residents could only withdraw cash from the post office during business hours or by driving 500 kilometres to Port Augusta. My question to the Minister for Regional Development is: what action has the minister taken to date to ensure that banks in regional towns and communities stay open?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries): I thank the honourable member for his question. Certainly, the decisions taken by banks, which don't appear anymore to have a sense of social responsibility, are very disappointing. The member refers to the number of banks that have closed across regional areas, and I know in terms of the closure at Coober Pedy, I think both the member for Giles and the member for Stuart have had conversations with me about this.

It is most unfortunate when these large corporations don't take any responsibility for providing services to regional communities. It is something that is regrettable, unfortunately part of the society within which we operate, which has private companies making these decisions. It means that it is not something that we have a direct opportunity to impact, but I am certainly willing to talk with my colleagues in the other place who have a more direct responsibility in terms of business and so on, and come back if there is any additional information that I can provide.

30 November 2022

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question without notice to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development on the topic of housing in flood-affected areas.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: Yesterday, the Premier told the other place that over a thousand homes will be affected by the Murray River floods and those people will be requiring alternative accommodation. The Malinauskas government has committed to crisis and emergency accommodation in flood-affected areas to provide short-term solutions. Long-term solutions, however, will also be required, as demonstrated by the flood-affected areas in New South Wales.

In Lismore, in that state, authorities are still trying to find long-term solutions for flood-affected residents nine months after floods left thousands of people without homes. With vacancy rates of just 0.5 per cent in the Murray and Mallee regions and 0.73 per cent in the Riverland, the number of available homes is limited for people who need long-term accommodation while recovery efforts are being undertaken. My question to the minister, therefore, is:

1. Is the minister satisfied that there is sufficient availability of medium to long-term accommodation for flood-affected communities in South Australia?

2. What is the minister doing to ensure that there is an increase in housing stock in the affected regional areas?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries: I thank the honourable member for his question. It certainly is a very pertinent topic in that we are aware of the immediacy of the approaching waters and what that will mean for people who do need to temporarily relocate. Of course, the Minister for Human Services has been very active as part of the cross-government and cross-agency activities to address the kinds of emergency situations that people will find themselves in.

In terms of medium to long-term accommodation, this is well known to be a significant issue in regional South Australia, as indeed it is quite an issue in metropolitan Adelaide as well. They are very difficult circumstances for all regions, but then when we add to that something that has the kind of effects that we are expecting this flood event to have, it is simply an added difficulty and complexity.

The minister for housing in the other place and the Minister for Human Services in the other place, as well as the government, are working on medium and long-term strategies in terms of housing and I have no doubt that the Riverland and the situation that we are faced with because of the rising waters and the expected flood damage will form a big part of the thinking as we go forward.

In terms of response, there are national disaster funding arrangements that are in place when there are various natural disasters, and of course we have seen those in place in the other states. I am sure that we will be very active in working together to try to find solutions for residents in regional areas, particularly the Riverland and the Murraylands, who might be affected by this.

15 November 2022

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: I rise on behalf of the Greens in support of this bill. We recognise that biosecurity is vital to protect our precious environment and our native species. The Greens believe the protection and conservation of biodiversity are essential for the wellbeing of all life, and it is crucial to protect biodiversity from threats such as diseases and pests.

Australia's natural biosecurity advantage has helped to protect our communities from many diseases and pests that can cause illness or damage our environment and our agriculture. Although current animal disease threats are mostly confined to livestock, there is the potential for diseases to spread to native species and to threaten biodiversity, and it is important that we protect our local food security as well as our local species.

In South Australia, we have an enormous range of unique ecosystems and habitats that are vulnerable to invasive species and to pests. These can cause untold damage to human health, to agriculture and to our environment. There is also a consideration here for animal welfare. The spread of infectious diseases amongst livestock can cause untold suffering of animals. We hope this bill enables swift action to be taken to ease the suffering of animals by reducing the administrative burden that is placed in dealing with these responses and dealing quickly with biosecurity threats before they become widespread. I therefore confirm the Greens will be supporting this bill.

2 November 2022

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question without notice to the Minister for Regional Development on the topic of regional health.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: In March 2020, the then Marshall Liberal government temporarily closed several rural accident and emergency departments due to COVID-19. Now, 2½ years later, the emergency departments at the following locations are still closed: Gumeracha, Strathalbyn, Mount Pleasant and Eudunda. Some of the hospitals have claimed they are not able to attract medical staff to regional hospitals. The Gumeracha medical centre has called it a 'crisis in our medical workforce'.

My question to the minister therefore is: what is the government doing to ensure that the health needs of regional communities are being met, and is the Minister for Regional Development developing strategies for attracting medical practitioners to the regions, so that these emergency departments can reopen?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries): I thank the honourable member for his question. Certainly, regional health is an issue that comes up very frequently when I am out on one of my various and numerous regional trips, and certainly it is something that I have raised a number of times internally. In terms of the specifics about strategies being developed, I will refer that to my colleague in the other place, the Minister for Health, and bring an answer back to the honourable member and the chamber.

Reply received on 21 February 2023:

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries): The Minister for Health and Wellbeing has been advised:

A working group was established to consider the emergency services options for this community.

The working group recommended an after-hours nurse-led clinic based at Gumeracha District Soldiers' Memorial Hospital, with virtual support from a medical practitioner. Under the proposal, the after-hours clinic would operate Monday to Friday 4pm to 8pm, and Saturdays and Sundays 10am to 4pm. A community forum was held on 12 January 2023 to inform the broader community on the details of the proposed model, which was supported. The community now have the opportunity to provide feedback until 27 January 2023, and staff consultation has commenced.

A similar process is now underway for Strathalbyn with a working group having met twice before Christmas to consider options.

Extensive work is underway to ensure we are attracting medical practitioners to all regional and rural areas of South Australia, recognising their importance to the health and the fabric of rural communities. South Australia's Rural Medical Workforce Plan 2019-24 lays out these strategies, the most critical of which has been the successful introduction of South Australia's Rural Generalist training program. The SA Rural Generalist Program is increasing the number of doctors who specifically train in rural medicine in a regional and rural community, based on evidence that the longer doctors spend training in a rural area, the more likely they are to practise long-term in that community. The Rural Generalist Program SA has overseen a significant expansion in rural medical training, with 2023 projected to see further increases. For example, rural intern positions have more than tripled to 18 in 2022 and intern rotations from metropolitan to rural areas increased from 20 in 2019 to 47 in 2022.

The South Australian government also supports the recruitment and retention of rural doctors by funding the Rural Doctors Workforce Agency to undertake targeted recruitment campaigns and to provide supports including upskilling, spouse and childcare supports and business supports to attract rural doctors to South Australia.

In addition, the government has committed to a staged rollout of 10 specialist doctors in regional South Australia, establishing more local medical services for local communities.

7 July 2022

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question without notice to the Minister for Regional Development on the topic of renting in the regions and the Cost of Living Concession.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: This morning, Premier Malinauskas and Minister Cook held a press conference announcing the state government's commitment to bring forward the Cost of Living Concession payments to August this year. Previously, some recipients were due to receive their payment in March 2023. In August, home owner-occupiers who are eligible to receive the Cost of Living Concession will receive $449 to assist with their cost-of-living expenses while eligible renters will receive just half of that, $224.60.

We know that more South Australians than ever before are experiencing rental stress. This is particularly acute in regional areas, where prices have surged by almost 70 per cent over the last two years. My question to the minister is: is the minister concerned that renters in regional areas are being short-changed by the Cost of Living Concession, and will she be advocating for renters to receive the same payment as home owners as part of the government's review of these concessions?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries): I thank the honourable member for his question. I was also delighted to be able to hear the announcement today that effectively the Cost of Living Concession will be doubled as we go forward in this period of time. Certainly, I think there is an important need to be constantly looking at the concessions that we have in our state. They are a very important part of supporting those who need that assistance at various times throughout their lives. I will be happy to refer the substance of his question to the Minister for Human Services in the other place.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: Supplementary: will the minister be advocating for renters in the regions to get the same concession as home owners, given the crisis gripping regional South Australia?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries): I am constantly in discussions with the Minister for Human Services, as are most members, I am sure, on this side of the chamber, about how we can best address the cost-of-living concerns and issues being faced by people across our state.

14 June 2022

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: The member for Mount Gambier's ears will well and truly be burning this afternoon. He has been the subject of a riveting debate. In the interests of time, I think we need to cut to the chase here. I am concerned that what we are seeing is a meal being made of an entree. I am not a good cook—the Hon. Tammy Franks can attest to that—but I do think that what we are seeing is something being whipped up out of nothing.

I do understand the Hon. Clare Scriven's concerns, and it is for that reason we made it very clear that we were not going to support the original amendments that were put forward by the Leader of the Opposition in this place, because we could see the potential for there to be some unintended consequences. I take at face value the leader's claims that she wants to ensure that taxpayers get good bang for their buck in terms of this role and is not trying to hold up the position.

What she has come back with, though, in terms of some revised amendments, I think strikes the right balance. I understand that it is the government's desire for this not to be amended at all and for it to go through as is, and I completely understand that, but I think what is being proposed is a fairly reasonable compromise. I do not think the sky is going to fall in if we agree to this.

I would be concerned if someone is appointed to this role who does not have the capacity to deal with scoping out a plan versus also beginning the work. That does not strike me as being terribly onerous, and I am keen to understand why that might be the case. My view is: let us move on with this. I know the minister says that she is very keen to get this happening and for it to be a priority. We in the Greens share that desire; we have always been supportive of this proposal. Indeed, my colleague the Hon. Tammy Franks has advocated previously that any such commissioner should reside in a regional community, and we think that is an important principle.

The idea of having some requirements in terms of the development of an annual plan and setting in place some consultation requirements I do not think is an outrageous suggestion. Obviously, Mr Bell will be a very important stakeholder, but there will be a range of others as well whom I envisage would be engaged with, and I think they are stipulated in the leader's amendment. So let's kind of move on, because I am concerned that this is, as the Hon. Connie Bonaros said, making a bit of a mountain out of a molehill—or a Mount Gambier out of a molehill; there has been a lot of mention of the Limestone Coast. So let's move on.

01 June 2022

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question without notice to the Minister for Regional Development on the topic of lead pollution at Port Pirie.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: InDaily reported yesterday that 42 public houses are located in areas of risk to children under the age of five because they are prone to lead dust. In the article it was stated that all of those 42 homes are currently occupied by at least one child aged under five. It is understood that there is a tender open for a maintenance contractor to facilitate the planning and completion of lead abatement related works in Port Pirie.

My question to the minister is:

Does the Malinauskas government intend to carry out the previous government's pledge to cut lead pollution at the Port Pirie smelter, and will the government rehouse affected families while the lead abatement project is taking place?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries):

I thank the honourable member for his question. I am happy to take that on notice and refer it to my colleagues in the other place who have direct responsibility for those matters.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: Supplementary: when can I expect a response?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries): That will be as soon as possible.

In reply to the Hon. R.A. SIMMS (1 June 2022).

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries): The Minister for Human Services has advised:

Port Pirie has been segmented into lead-risk areas: high, medium and low. A lead-risk map reflecting these areas was updated in April 2020 and provided to the Port Pirie Housing SA office. The current practice is to not allocate families with children under five within the currently defined high-risk area. Existing tenants with children under five residing in the high-risk area, who were allocated prior to the provision of the updated lead-risk map, were given the opportunity to relocate to another medium-risk or low-risk area within Port Pirie.

Families who reside in current medium-risk and low-risk areas will not be relocated during the lead abatement works as these works will focus on the exterior of the house. Work will include covering existing exposed soil and increasing dust suppression to avoid potentially contaminated soil from blowing into homes. The soil will be tested on site prior to commencement of works, and soil with greater than 300 parts per million of lead will be removed from the yard and replaced with clean fill.

31 May 2022

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question without notice to the Minister for Regional Development.

The Hon. C.M. Scriven: About?

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: About the topic of housing affordability. Don't worry, minister, it's not the budget. As reported in The Advertiser on Saturday, the quarterly HOOD.ai tenant report has identified areas where rent costs are skyrocketing. The report showed that rural and regional areas are some of those that have seen the steepest rent increases over the last years in areas such as Kapunda, Mount Gambier and McLaren Flat.

Last week, the Mount Gambier Messenger reported that in Mount Gambier the cost of renting a house has increased by 7 per cent since January, while renting a unit has increased by 4.7 per cent. For some renters, that is an extra $30 a week that they are having to pay to keep a roof over their head.

With vacancy rates in Mount Gambier at 0.25 per cent, rising rental properties added to low vacancy rates are pushing people towards homelessness. In recent weeks, my office has received calls from constituents who are struggling to find rental accommodation. One constituent told us of the McLaren Vale Lakeside Caravan Park, where a number of people are now living after being displaced from rental accommodation. These people have jobs, but they are unable to find a place to rent.

My question to the minister therefore is: is the government aware of these reports and what strategies are being adopted to address these?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries): I thank the honourable member for his question about an incredibly important issue which is faced not only here in Adelaide but throughout our regional areas. This is something that I have been hearing about firsthand on my various visits to regional areas and of course the honourable member referred to Mount Gambier, which is my home area.

I, too, am hearing these stories, these incredibly difficult stories to hear, of incredibly difficult circumstances. As the honourable member mentioned, or perhaps alluded to without saying so in so many words, I think often people think of homelessness as those who are in desperate financial circumstances, people who don't have work and don't have other social supports, but as he has rightly pointed out, in many cases because of the huge increases in rentals over the last couple of years in particular, there are people who have full-time jobs who still can't afford to rent.

I have heard of people turning up to an open inspection for a rental in Mount Gambier and there being 50 other applicants. I was speaking a few weeks ago at an event and afterwards one gentleman who came up to speak to me said that he had moved to Mount Gambier—again, in this case Mount Gambier—last year. He was working in mental health, which is an area of very high need and regional areas find it very difficult to attract health professionals and retain them. He was loving Mount Gambier. He wanted to stay, and yet for six months he had been without his own house or unit. He was unable to acquire a rental, despite the fact he was a quite well paid health professional.

Similarly, I have heard of two teachers who were working in the local high school, who were very happy to be there. Again, they loved Mount Gambier, because of course Mount Gambier is one of the best places in the state. However, they spent two terms living in a caravan in a caravan park, and that is not something that they wanted to continue to do, which is entirely understandable. Unfortunately, my region has now lost those two teachers, who have returned to, I think it was, Melbourne.

In terms of the Malinauskas Labor government's commitments in regional housing, of course we have made commitments to 150 new homes in regional areas, the building of those, and this is on top of bringing homes back up to the standard that is needed. Some of these homes have spent months or even years vacant. Unfortunately, those issues weren't addressed sufficiently by the former government.

This is in addition to our maintenance blitz on 3,000 homes across the state. Those particular initiatives that I have mentioned are all being funded with new money. That is a part of our commitment, and of course the Minister for Human Services in the other place is working very hard and very diligently on social housing, and across the term, because housing touches many portfolios, we are looking at ways to increase the housing stock both for purchasers and for renters.

The regional development associations across the state have also done a lot of work over the last couple of years in trying to address this issue, and so with my regional development hat on I will continue to work with them and my other parliamentary colleagues to continue to try to address this very important issue.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: Supplementary question: does the minister concede that building just 150 new homes in the regions is insufficient? Will she be advocating for her colleagues at a state level to build more housing in the regions, and will she be advocating for the Albanese Labor government to invest more money in public housing in South Australia?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries): Thank you for the supplementary question. I think we need to take all the steps that we possibly can to address this issue. As has been mentioned, it is rental housing, it is affordable housing to buy. It is all sorts, all types of housing. It is executive level housing in regional areas as well. All of those are facing a lack of supply, and so we need to use all the mechanisms we possibly can to address these issues.

Certainly, that will include liaising with the new federal government, the Albanese federal government. I don't think the announcement about who is getting what portfolio federally has come out yet, unless it has been today and I haven't had a chance to catch up with the latest news, but I will certainly be working with my state parliamentary colleagues and federal ministers to try to address this issue.

17 May 2022

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question without notice to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development.

The PRESIDENT: On the topic of?

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: On the topic of blue gums on Kangaroo Island.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: Thank you, Mr President. Everybody is interested in KI today. I visited Kangaroo Island last year, and locals told me about the plantations of Tasmanian blue gums that are a result of the forestry industry species that is not endemic to the island. After the fires, mature blue gums released a large volume of seed, which has germinated in areas of remnant vegetation, conservation land and roadside vegetation. What has resulted is a dense infestation of Tasmanian blue gums that are outcompeting native flora and fauna and changing the ecosystems that provide essential habitat for vulnerable species.

Tasmanian blue gums grow at a rapid rate, and it is currently reported that these trees are now standing over two metres tall. A concerted effort by locals volunteering has managed to remove 20 per cent of the saplings, but the time to easily remove them has already passed. A consortium of conservation groups, Trees for Life, the Kangaroo Island Landscape Board, the Kangaroo Island Landowners Association, the nature conservation council of SA and the Kangaroo Island Council have reported that only 900 hectares out of more than 3,500 have been cleared of Tasmanian blue gums, and they have called for additional funds to address this recovery effort.

My questions to the minister therefore are:

1. What is the government planning to do to address the invasive Tasmanian blue gums in forestry plantations on Kangaroo Island?
2. Will the minister ensure that the timber industry make a contribution?
3. Will the government be allocating funds within the coming budget to deal with this serious problem?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries): I thank the honourable member for his question. It is quite interesting that it is the same day as you are talking about the issue of feral pigs, for example, because the very finely balanced ecosystem of Kangaroo Island, of course, is incredibly important, both for its benefits for tourism, its benefits for ecological purposes, its benefits for our agricultural sector.

I haven't had the particular matter that the honourable member has mentioned brought to my attention. I am certainly happy to investigate further and come back to the council with an answer. I suspect it also very strongly covers and crosses over with the responsibilities of my colleague in the other place the Minister for Environment and Water. So I will certainly look into this matter. I thank the member for bringing it to my attention, and if he would like to provide me any further details other than his outline to the chamber today, I am very happy to receive them.

Reply received on 7 July 2022

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries): I thank the honorable member for his question and provide the following response:

I assume that your question relates to germination of Tasmanian blue gum wildlings on Kangaroo Island.

Since the 2019-20 bushfires, the state and commonwealth governments have committed just over $1.5 million to this issue. By 30 June 2022, it is anticipated that initial control work will have been undertaken on more than 1,000 hectares.

Control of Tasmanian blue gum wildlings remains a priority for this government, with this work to continue into 2022-23.

Since early 2022, landholders are required to control Tasmanian blue gums wildlings growing on their land.

I’m advised that the Department for Environment and Water are working with Kangaroo Island Landscape Board to ensure landholders, including Kiland, are aware of their responsibilities under the Landscape Act 2019.