The legislation, which was introduced to the House of Assembly on Tuesday, will fast-track the redevelopment of the North Adelaide Golf Course and neighbouring Park 27A, which has been earmarked for a new driving range.

There are currently no designs for the course, although the state government and the Adelaide City Council have been negotiating about upgrading the site for some time.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said he understood the move would disappoint the council.

“I don’t want to diminish the fact that you know, council leadership, particularly the Lord Mayor and the Chief Executive Officer, have actually tried to work out if we can find a way to get it done in the time that we need to, and it just appears as though we won’t be able to do that, we’ll fall short of the mark,” he said.

“This will disappoint them, and I get that because there has been genuine effort, and I am grateful to them.”

Deputy Lord Mayor Phillip Martin said the Premier’s announcement was a “complete surprise”.

You might like

Just In

Bali flights cancelled as Indonesian volcano erupts

Just In

Mushroom cook ‘chose world scrutiny’ over silence

“We understood as recently as last week that the government was happy with the way in which the matter was progressing,” Martin said.

“The Premier even assured our staff that there would be no action on the golf course until later this year at the earliest, clearly he’s either reconsidered that in the five days since, or alternatively, failed to tell anyone.”

Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith is currently in Bonn, Germany, lobbying for Adelaide to secure the climate conference COP31 and was unaware of the announcement.

You might like

Just In

Bali flights cancelled as Indonesian volcano erupts

Just In

Mushroom cook ‘chose world scrutiny’ over silence

The Adelaide City Council previously explored options to redevelop the golf course, but none were progressed in the past due to the cost, which the council estimated would be between $50 and $70 million.

The state government has not allocated funds for the golf course redevelopment in its recent budget, with the Treasurer telling ABC Radio Adelaide last week that it was something to expect in the mid-year budget review.

The special legislation will mean the golf course upgrade will still have to go through the process of applying for planning approval, and the state government said there would still be a means for the public to have their say.

“In North Adelaide, we have a unique opportunity to deliver one of the world’s best public golf courses, with improved amenity and usability of our internationally renowned Park Lands, in a way which drives national and international visitation – delivering significant economic benefit for our state,” Malinauskas said.

“We are currently working with Greg Norman Golf Course Design and the Adelaide City Council to deliver a truly magnificent outcome.

“But to deliver it – we need to have certainty. That’s what this legislation provides for.”

Malinauskas said the golf course would remain publicly accessible and was an appropriate use of the park lands.

“This is a project that’s going to deliver more trees, not less, a better publicly available and accessible public golf course than what is the case already today,” he said.

“Ultimately, for a one week a year, the golf course will be used for LIV, now the other 51 weeks of the year it’ll be a tourist attraction, but most importantly, it’ll be a publicly accessible golf course to South Australians at an affordable price point, and that’s something that we’re very keen to ensure is delivered, because publicly owned golf courses are very different to privately owned ones.”

Legislative councillors Connie Bonaros and Sarah Game have supported the move.

Greens MLC Robert Simms is against the move, saying it’s “an extraordinary slap in the face to the City Council that had been negotiating with the Govenrment in good faith”.

“Surely the Government could have waited until the Lord Mayor was back in the state before announcing this bill,” he said.

“I’m disappointed that some of my colleagues on the cross-bench pledged their support some time ago sight unseen.

“The Greens will be carefully examining the details here. In particular, I want to ensure that this proposal doesn’t result in further encroachment on our Park Lands and further loss of public green space. I don’t want to see this appalling process become a precedent for how this Government deals with the City Council or the Park Lands.”

The Opposition has also criticised the Malinauskas Government for the process of rushing the legislation yesterday.

“What it looks like at the moment is that it’s one rule for party Pete’s celebrity mates, and that’s another rule for everybody else,” Tarzia said.

“I mean, this is the biggest capricious abuse of process I have ever seen in my time of Parliament to effectively try and ram through a bill of this magnitude without any due process is just absolutely unacceptable.”

When InDaily asked if the Opposition will support the bill, a spokesperson said: “The Liberal Party support LIV Golf in the city but don’t support giving Labor unfettered power to pillage any bit of park lands they desire through an extraordinary piece of legislation with no notice.”

The bill will be debated in the House of Assembly later today.