Water is the number one issue facing South Australia. Adelaide relies on the River Murray and the Hills catchments for 93 percent of its water – both of these sources are under stress. Alternative sources must be found to secure Adelaide’s water supply.

160 gigalitres of water flows out to sea in the form of stormwater every year. The Liberals would implement a $400 million plan to capture 89 gigalitres of stormwater at 13 sites around metropolitan Adelaide, where the stormwater would be stored and purified by the natural aquifers. The CSIRO has recently produced water of drinkable standard from stormwater captured in the Salisbury wetlands.

As well as being cheaper and requiring less infrastructure than desalination, capturing stormwater also has a positive environmental impact by stopping polluted stormwater flowing into the Gulf St Vincent and killing seagrass.

A Redmond Liberal Government will make water security its first priority. A State Liberal Government will start work immediately on its plan to reduce stormwater waste and to diversify Adelaide’s water options.

The Murray Darling Basin is in crisis from its most northern extremities to the Murray Mouth. Only national control and management of the river can save it.

Mike Rann told us the COAG agreement reached in July 2008 was a ‘historic’ agreement that would save the ailing River Murray but the reality is nothing like that. The truth is South Australia is still getting the raw end of the deal – this deal has not secured any more water for the Lower Lakes or for Riverland irrigators. There are numerous flaws in the agreement – states retain veto powers over water shares and Victoria and NSW gets first go at any private carryover water kept in the Hume and Dartmouth dams.

What is needed is a genuine national takeover of the Murray Darling system – one without the vested interests of individual states dictating it. This is the only way South Australian irrigators will get water allocations comparable to those of their interstate colleagues. It is the only way the River Murray will get the environmental flows it needs to regain its health.

The Liberal Opposition is steadfastly opposed to the Rann Government’s plan to build a weir at Wellington and the subsequent flooding of the Lower Lakes with seawater. The weir will not be a temporary structure and once the wetlands are flooded they will never be able to be recovered.

South Australians have a right to expect that all levels of government are run in a transparent, open and corruption free manner. A Redmond Liberal Government will govern in a manner that is both open and accountable.

The Liberals announced their plans to establish an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) over two years ago. In August 2009 Liberal Leader Isobel Redmond committed a Liberal Government would have an ICAC up and running within 100 days of winning the March 2010 State Election. The Liberals have already started the search for a suitably qualified person to head up South Australia’s ICAC.

The new anti-corruption Commission will have powers to investigate allegations of corruption in the Public Service. It will bolster and improve the existing checks and balances in place with a goal of improving current arrangements and will also send a strong message that corruption will not be tolerated.

Victoria and South Australia are now the only two states that do not have an anti-corruption commission.

The Rann Labor Government is becoming increasingly isolated in its refusal to support a state-based anti-corruption commission.

The Rann Government has the wrong priorities – it is selling off parts of Glenside Hospital for a new retail development as well as spending $45 million on a new location for the SA Film Corporation.

Glenside Hospital is the only state-wide acute mental health facility with acute services not available in country areas. Governments should build hospitals before film hubs but the Rann Government has turned its back on its responsibility to prioritise projects.;

Despite universal acknowledgement that open space is beneficial to patients’ health the Rann Government is proceeding to sell-off 42 percent of Glenside Hospital. Locating the film hub next to the hospital will not open the Glenside Campus up – it will section off more than 2 hectares which mental health patients and the public will not be able to access.

A Liberal Government would have retained the entire site for the Glenside Hospital redevelopment and open space.