I believe the State Government’s new water prices are a missed opportunity to reward water conservation. The increase will do nothing to encourage water conservation. It merely ensures that garden watering restrictions continue.  The Government have put into effect a three-tier pricing structure; an improvement on the two-tier pricing structure we had until earlier this week. But there are two problems with this. First, everyone still pays a supply charge of around $160 per year whether they use water or not. Secondly, there is little incentive to save water, since the new Government pricing has the same price for people using between 121 and 500kL per year. Since the metropolitan household average is around 250kL per year, almost everyone will pay the same for water when they turn on the tap. It makes it hard to save much money for those who are frugal with water.

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The Garnaut Climate Change Review will release its Draft Report on this Friday, 4 July. The Draft Report will outline the impacts of climate change and preliminary policy options for Australia to minimise its environmental and economic impacts.

Professor Ross Garnaut will host the forums, providing a half hour presentation, followed by question time.
The forum will provide an opportunity for individuals and organisations to discuss the Draft Report with Professor Garnaut ahead of the completion of the Final Report by 30 September 2008.
Date: Tuesday 8 July 2008
Time: 10.00-11.30am
Venue: Adelaide Town Hall
Attendance is free of charge but registration is required.
To register, visit www.garnautreview.org.au.
 

The State Government plans to introduce a cost-cutting exercise next month that will leave people with disabilities without an option as to who repairs their wheelchairs.

Under the new arrangements all repairs to wheelchairs provided by Disability SA will now be done by Domiciliary Care’s equipment service or designated service providers. The Minister admitted in Budget Estimates hearings today that it’s a cost-cutting decision.

What it could do is leave many people confined to wheelchairs with the real prospect of being stranded late at night! A number of my constituents are alarmed that support under the new service is not available after 5pm on Sundays and late on weekday nights.

They fear they’ll be forced to use operators whom they don’t trust. They can’t understand why they can’t continue to use the private repair services they have come to trust and depend on.

Legislation is expected in the Lower House soon that allows police to use sniffer dogs to detect drugs in nightclubs and entertainment areas. If a sniffer dog gives police reasonable suspicion that a person is carrying illegal drugs that person can be searched. The problem with this kind of legislation is that in NSW sniffer dogs were found to wrongfully detect drugs on three out of every four people. What do you think? 

In the Upper House, Environment Minister Gail Gago has introduced legislation to ban ‘lightweight’ plastic bags from 1 January next year. Shops such as supermarkets using lightweight plastic bags must offer alternatives. Plastic bags not banned include ‘bags on a roll’ as found in fruit and vegetable stalls, heavier bags used by boutiques and department stores, and bags meeting composting standards. There will be a four-month phasing in period before fines could be imposed of up to $5,000. 

In Parliament today I supported a motion for urgent action to save the Coorong. This internationally significant site is dying. If we don’t act immediately, we will lose forever the possibility of recovering the bird, fish and plant life that has existed in the Coorong Lakes for thousands of years. In response, the Rann Government offered nothing but political game playing. They tried to change the wording of the motion to “recognise the efforts of the government to protect and manage the Coorong”.

In Parliament today I had the opportunity to respond to the 2008 State Budget.