Planning, Development and Infrastructure (Environment and Food Production Areas) Amendment Bill 2025

The Hon. J.S. LEE (16:14): 

I rise today to speak on the Planning, Development and Infrastructure (Environment and Food Production Areas) Amendment Bill 2025. This bill aims to amend the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016. This bill seeks to bring the environment and food production areas (EFPAs) in line with the new Greater Adelaide Regional Plan (GARP) that the Malinauskas government released earlier this year.

EFPAs were introduced in the 2016 legislation to protect vital agricultural lands surrounding metropolitan Adelaide from urban encroachment. The EFPAs operate in a similar way to character preservation areas in the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale. Land within the boundaries of an EFPA cannot be subdivided for residential purposes.

The Greater Adelaide Regional Plan has identified sufficient land for housing and urban growth for the next 30 years, with much of the land required for medium and long-term growth currently locked up within the environment and food production areas. This bill intends to designate new EFPA boundaries based on the Greater Adelaide Regional Plan and ensure the that variations to the EFPA are consistent with GARP and provide for a 30-year land supply, rather than 15 years as it currently stands.

The bill would confirm that the limited land division overlay would be applied on any land removed from the EFPA to prevent an unorderly fragmentation of the land. It would also remove the current urban consolidation test for future variations to the EFPA boundaries and require the GARP to consider population growth and to identify land to be developed in the short term. Land removed from the EFPA will still need to be rezoned before it could be used for residential development, and the government has highlighted that this rezoning would take place in a staged and orderly approach over the next 30 years based on demand and taking infrastructure provision and cost into account

It would not be an exaggeration to say that every day in this place and every time we are out and about we are talking about the housing crisis facing South Australia—the financial impact it has on families and communities and its stifling effect on the state's social and economic growth. It is vital that we address the housing problems using every lever at our disposal. Certainly, unlocking suitable land that is close to existing urban areas and infrastructure is seen to be a sensible measure.

The minister has argued that the 15-year land supply rule that previously formed the government's planning policy is uncompetitive and monopolistic for those outside the EFPA and, therefore, these proposed changes will bring more land into the potential development pipeline, increasing competition and addressing the mounting challenges of providing housing supply.

What I think this debate really highlights is the lack of proper consultation and the imperfect and rushed nature of the initial introduction of EFPAs in 2016. At the time, the opposition argued that locking land away within EFPA boundaries would have a detrimental impact on future development needed for population growth. The government is now conceding that this has in fact been the case, necessitating the amendment bill that now lies before us.

I want to acknowledge the high level of media, industry and community interest in this debate, particularly surrounding the potential impacts that these changes could have on farmers and producers in the EFPA boundaries. I met with Grain Producers SA and wholeheartedly thank them for raising their concerns, providing their assessment of the bill and also their strong advocacy for South Australian grain farmers. Grain Producers SA raised a number of issues with me, particularly in regard to their concerns about the precedent for future encroachment on highly productive cropping land and the need for better protections for existing farms which may suddenly find themselves neighbours with new residential developments.

We have heard many cases of farmers facing complaints from residents in nearby housing developments about their usual farming practices, from noise, dust, spray drift and even using lights when harvesting at night. These are real issues that impact on how farmers operate and show that better buffers and policies are needed to improve the interface between residential and farming areas. I do hope that the government will consider all those concerns and address them in a proper way.

I have also received correspondence from stakeholders in the primary production sector who are calling for more detail about how changing the EFPA boundaries would impact on their properties and the investments they have made in their business operations, some for many generations. These stakeholders question how the government intends to ensure continued investor confidence in operations that rely on continued maintenance of those rural landscapes and environmental areas. Once again, I think the government needs to provide some answers to some of those farming businesses.

Given all that, I indicate that I will be supporting the opposition's amendments that will require a detailed audit of primary production land to be undertaken in consultation with Primary Producers SA and the Local Government Association by no later than January 2027. Such an audit would promote the optimal use of agricultural land in Greater Adelaide and address interface management policies related to urban development. An audit would then be required at least once every 10 years following the publication of the first audit.

I also indicate that I will be supporting the opposition's proposed spatial amendments, which would see additional land removed from the EFPA boundaries around Murray Bridge, Goolwa and Victor Harbor and west of Port Wakefield Road between Riverlea and Dublin. These changes will see more land that is less suitable for farming freed from EFPAs, allowing greater options for future developments and ensuring the EFPAs serve their intended purpose of protecting highly productive farming land into the future.

My understanding is that the Liberal amendments have been considered and consulted with important stakeholders and are welcomed by the HIA, UDIA, Master Builders SA and also the Property Council. Greater transparency and more detailed investigations and assessments of the suitability of land in Greater Adelaide for different land uses will greatly improve our ability to plan and develop in a considered way so that we can achieve a balance between protecting our land's vital food production and addressing South Australia's housing crisis.

With those remarks, I commend the bill.