Published June 2025
Mr BATTY (Bragg) (16:57): Well, here we go again—another Parklands pillage from the Malinauskas Labor government, another arrogant minister from the Malinauskas Labor government coming into this place trying to introduce extraordinary legislation to seize even more of Adelaide's Parklands, another broken promise from the Malinauskas Labor government that promised us, only a few years ago, that it would protect Adelaide's unique Parklands.
They have absolutely trashed that promise ever since, just like they are seeking to trash parliamentary procedure today by expecting us to pass this legislation after only seeing it for a couple of hours, just like they are trying to trash the Adelaide Parklands at every available opportunity.
We have seen this film before—and you did not like the ending, you did not like the ending last time. It was two years ago that very similar legislation got introduced here when Malinauskas Labor last tried this trick, trying to seize a bit of the Adelaide Parklands and dispel all the rules, allowing them to do whatever they wanted with a patch of Parklands.
That was at Park 21 West, one of the most biodiverse areas of the entire Adelaide Parklands. They tried to do that with no consultation, no consultation with groups that had cared for the Parklands like Bush For Life, no consultation with First Nations people, no consultation with the Adelaide Parklands Authority, no consultation with Adelaide City Council.
Is it starting to sound familiar? Here we are again, the exact same situation. It was only stopped last time because of incredible public backlash to their latest Parklands land grab after promising they would protect Adelaide's unique Parklands. Here we are, a couple of years down the track, trying to do the exact same thing in the exact same way, without any consultation. We are seemingly going out of our way—
The Hon. N.D. Champion: It's a golf course becoming a golf course.
Mr BATTY: The minister interjects that this is a golf course becoming a golf course. I think he is right that most fair-minded people would not mind if this was simply a bit of green open public Parklands currently operating as a golf course remaining as a bit of green open public Parklands operating as an even better golf course, but that is not what this piece of legislation seeks to do. It is totally lost on me why, if we want to achieve that aim, we need to pass this bill today in record time without any consultation.
It is totally lost on me today why we need to give the minister unfettered power not only to that patch of Parklands, the golf course, but to any other bit of Parklands he wants. It is not just a golf course becoming a golf course. If the minister believes that, he has not even read his own bill that he is introducing into this place. Once again, it is Malinauskas Labor trying to engage in a Parklands land grab, treating the Parklands like their own personal land bank, giving themselves extraordinary power instead of going through proper processes to get LIV Golf into the city, something we all want, something we all support.
We support LIV Golf. We support LIV Golf in the city. We do not need this bill to make it happen, because what you are trying to do is not just get LIV Golf into the city but do it in your typical fashion and try to also kill a bit of Parklands along the way. We have seen the film before. Why has there been no consultation? Why come in here with a bit of secret legislation to seize more Parklands and not tell anyone about it?
The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: Secret? You're holding it.
Mr BATTY: I am holding it as of two hours ago. Has the Lord Mayor seen it? This is totally secret to the Adelaide City Council. There is no secret about that because the Lord Mayor, from 16,000 kilometres away, has taken to Twitter to tell us that she has not seen it. It is a ridiculous process that we are in here. The only reason for the urgency, as far as we can tell, is to try to get this done while the Lord Mayor is away. Why are you afraid of the Lord Mayor, applying a bit of scrutiny and having this go through the proper process, engaging with Adelaide City Council like the Lord Mayor tells us via her social media missives she has been doing in good faith over this time?
No, instead we have to come in here: the Malinauskas Labor government, dictator style, grabbing all the power, doing whatever they want, not consulting with anyone and taking Parklands along the way. That is all this bill seeks to do. It is an extraordinary land grab from a government that constantly treat the Adelaide Parklands as their own personal land bank. Last time, it was Park 21 West in the South Parklands. This time, we learn from clause 5 in this bill that it is a parcel of Parklands currently operating as the North Adelaide Golf Course. That, of course, is Park 1 of the Adelaide Parklands, currently operating as the North Adelaide Golf Course and also known as Possum Park.
But it is not just that. Again, it is a bit disingenuous for the minister to be constantly interjecting that it is just a golf course turning into a golf course, because then we move on to the next section: you are also taking the area known as John E Brown Park or Park 27A. It has not been explained to us why, or why we need to pass this extraordinary legislation effectively to vest this in the minister and suspend the law of the land at that particular piece of Parklands. There are certain road reserves surrounding it as well, and here is the kicker: the minister can also determine any other section of the Parklands that is necessary or desirable to include in the
project site.
So if the minister over here desires any more Parklands, what this legislation says is that he can go and take it, and we know they have a habit of taking Parklands. It is in their DNA. After promising that they would protect Adelaide's unique Parklands, what we have here is a minister walking into parliament trying to get us to legislate that he can have any bit of Parklands he desires. It is ridiculous for him to keep saying that this is just a golf course turning into a golf course. We are more than happy with a golf course turning into a golf course. We are more than happy to see LIV Golf in the city. What we are not happy about is the minister coming in here with legislation we have not seen, trying to take every single bit of Parklands that he so desires. It is outrageous.
Along the way there will be no rules applied, no rules applied to the minister as well, because they just get in the way, don't they? They get in way of your Parklands land grabs because, if we look at clause 12, he makes it very clear that no assessment, decision, consent, approval, authorisation, certificate, licence, permit or permission is required under the law of the state for the minister's newly seized bit of Parklands, wherever he may desire. Furthermore, no consultation, inquiry, notification or other process or procedural step is required under any bit of Parklands now that the minister so desires.
What else are we excluding? He says there will be no fence. If we go to clause 18, nothing in here prevents the erection of fencing or other barriers in relation to particular areas forming part of the North Adelaide Golf Course, if the minister desires it. What else are we excluding? Why not exclude the Environment Protection Act as well for any bit of Parklands where the minister so desires? Why not exclude any regulations or by-laws under the Local Government Act for any bit of Parklands that the minister so desires? Why not exclude the local nuisance act while we are at it, the Local Nuisance and Litter Control Act, for any bit of Parklands that the minister so desires?
Do not come in here and tell us this is a golf course in the Parklands turning into a golf course in the Parklands. What it is is seizing any bit of the Parklands that the minister so desires. We can have LIV Golf in the city without this legislation, and that is the really sad bit about what we are doing today. It does not have to be this way.
An honourable member interjecting:
Mr BATTY: It does not have to be this way. I thought you might have learnt your lesson. You might have learnt your lesson, but here you are. Because we can have the golf, we can have the golf in the city; that is something I support, that is something you support, it is something we all support. But it is totally unclear to me why we need this bill to achieve that end and it is certainly unclear to me why we need to give you any bit of power you want over any bit of Parklands. It is totally unclear why the government would come in here with a sledgehammer, putting a sledgehammer right through the negotiations that Adelaide City Council was entering into in good faith with no consultation with any relevant party. What a nuisance. But it does not matter because the nuisance act does not apply to the Minister for Planning anymore in any bit of Parklands that he so desires.
So, I think this is a very sorry state of affairs we are in. We have an arrogant government that does what it wants, that treats this parliament like some sort of inconvenient rubber stamp, and it is a really big contrast that we have seen in parliament today when it comes to priorities. It is also a really big contrast you can see in this parliament today when it comes to Parklands policies. On the one hand you have had the Leader of the Opposition outlining in his budget reply speech
today, Liberal policy about protecting the Parklands, talking about our plans to World Heritage List the Adelaide Parklands, not if—we will probably trying to exclude that as well, won't we, if the Minister for Planning can get his hands on it?
We have had the Leader of Opposition talking about our plans to World Heritage List the Adelaide Parklands. We have had the Leader of the Opposition in his budget reply speech today talking about our plans to return more green space to the Adelaide Parklands, and what do we have in contrast? We have a Labor government who walks in here, suspends standing orders to introduce extraordinary legislation that vests in the minister any bit of Parklands he so desires and says that once he has it, once he has his hands on it, none of the normal rules apply. The law of the land does not apply. They are above the law for any bit of Parklands that the minister
wants to seek.
I think this is a very, very sorry state of affairs. It did not have to be this way. Most, if not all, people in this place support LIV Golf, support LIV Golf being in the city. What we do not support is giving you the entire Adelaide Parklands. What we do not support is you trashing parliamentary procedure just like you have trashed your own Parklands promises.
