The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (15:01): My questions to the minister responsible for Adelaide sand management review on the topic of the two-month proposed dredging trial are:
1. Given the government's announcement that the two-month dredging program will collect sand from a near-shore zone between Taperoo and North Haven, is that proposed dredging site within the northern management area offshore of the Largs Bay zone, as described in appendix C, Review of Sand Sources, in the scientific report?
2. What is the average grain size of the dredging site?
3. What is the average carbonate content of the proposed dredging zone?
4. How far offshore is 'near-shore'?
The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:02): I thank the honourable member for her questions. In terms of grain size and the technical questions, I will have to take them on notice. In relation to the area where the initial dredging is occurring near North Haven, I don't have the exact figures in front of me but, from memory, it's between just below the watermark and a buffer zone until seagrass. I think it's up to 200 or 300 metres potentially offshore from the watermark, but I am happy to get the exact details to confirm it for the honourable member.
The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (15:02): Supplementary: how long will the minister be the minister responsible for this issue?
The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:03): As I have outlined to the chamber before, the minister responsible for issues of sand management on the beaches is the member for Port Adelaide, the Minister for the Environment, the Hon. Susan Close, our Deputy Premier. She owns property that is very near the northern beach area and has declared a conflict of interest, and I was appointed the minister responsible for this.
Once the dredging has occurred, it may well be that future decisions will lay with the minister. As I have outlined in statements I have made publicly, the advice we have so far is that all the science points to that this ought to work and provide the ongoing replenishment of sand from those northern beaches down to West Beach, but we want to make sure the real testing confirms what the science says.