Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:01): Today, I rise to show some serious concern for the river communities here in South Australia, not by the floods but by the inaction of the Minister for Water, the Minister for Climate and the River Murray. Today, we have heard that one minute we are favouring buybacks and the next minute we are favouring infrastructure, and the mixed messages are having a really detrimental effect on those river communities. They are having a detrimental effect on the irrigation communities because they do not know whether they are coming or going.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (12:48): I, too, rise to make a contribution to one of the most important agencies in South Australian government budgets, because we all know too well how important a good, robust health system is. What the member for Schubert has brought to the table seems to have agitated the government members because I think, rightfully so, they were elected on the premise that they would fix ramping. Along the course of the past 12 months we have seen ramping almost double.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (11:41): I, of course, will rise to make a contribution to the Public Works Committee report with regard to the Truro bypass. It is a stretch of infrastructure that has long been discussed, long been talked about, because we know that the stretch of road that comes away from Halfway House Road up to Truro and beyond to Ebenezer Hill and then up to the Barossa and Nuriootpa is a main thoroughfare for heavy vehicles, it is a main thoroughfare for the east to the west, but it is also a connecting highway from the east to the north.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:18): Boy, has it been a busy Easter ANZAC break-up in Chaffey! It gives me great pleasure to let everyone know that the Karoonda Farm Fair was back on after a significant break. For two days at Karoonda there were many thousands of people who streamed into the Karoonda Farm Fair. They were able to get a real taste of what a country fair is all about. Karoonda is obviously in the Mallee. What I was able to witness there was nothing short of a miraculous recovery for a small country show. I want to commend the committee and the coordination group for such a fantastic event.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (12:48): I rise to support the shadow's motion this morning. It is an important motion because it is a day of remembrance and it is a day of paying respect, just like I did on ANZAC Day and at functions before ANZAC Day. There were thousands of Riverlanders who were working on fruit blocks who left their families behind and enlisted to fight, and some never returned. Our service men and women showed strength, courage, determination, endurance, mateship and bravery to represent their country and give us the freedoms that we currently enjoy today.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (11:13): I would like to make a brief contribution to thank the Natural Resources Committee for making the journey up to the Riverland. I am hoping that they gained a lot out of it. The member for Mawson has just given quite a descriptive brief on what they saw and the challenges that the region faced not only through the most recent high-flow event that turned into a flood event but what the day-to-day challenges are: being a food producer, dealing with biosecurity issues and dealing with the vagaries of weather. I think there was a bit of a mixture of all of that in that trip.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:29): I rise to speak about some of the fun and frivolity over the March long weekend up in Chaffey. If the March long weekend is a taste of things to come, Easter has a showstopper about to launch upon us. We all know that the Chaffey electorate is a great place to live and a great place to visit. The March long weekend that has just gone was a great example of how much there is to do and see throughout the Riverland. Also another great show of the resilience of our towns has been to recover and get on with life after the floods. From auto street parties to harvest festivals, there was something for everyone.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (11:47): I rise to put overwhelming support to this motion. It is critically important that we do acknowledge our emergency service personnel, whether they be paid or whether they be volunteers, no matter what colour uniform they wear or what part of the river communities they come from. Everyone rallied, and they rallied exceptionally well.

As recreational restrictions on the River Murray start to ease, the Opposition is calling on Peter Malinauskas to provide clarity and transparency over exactly what informed the snap decision.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (11:26): I rise to give full support to the Bookmark Creek project. It is a $6.1 million component of the $36.7 million Sustaining Riverland Environments. I did present to the committee and I thank the Chair and the committee for allowing me to express my support and also to give a little bit more understanding of what Bookmark Creek has meant not only to the people of Renmark but also the natural environs that surround Renmark.