State Election 2026 - Question #4
Re-zoning
We advised each party: “In recent years, successive State Governments have re-zoned areas of the Adelaide Park Lands, to suit ad hoc proposed developments (e.g. Botanic High School, Festival Plaza, Aquatic Centre) that have eroded or taken over Open, Green, Public spaces.”
We asked: “If elected, what would you do to try to limit executive power to erode the Adelaide Park Lands?” Here’s what they replied:
| Party | Party Response | APA evaluation | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Craig Pickering, independent candidate for Legislative Council | This relates to my answer to question 2. In addition, I would introduce legislation that would make it mandatory for real public consultation to occur prior to any of those decisions mentioned being allowed to occur. | Better public consultation would be welcomed, but this falls short of seeking a limit on executive power to re-zone Park Lands | 6 |
| Tammy Franks team, independent for Legislative Council | I would advocate for legislative change to the Park Lands Act as follows: * A requirement for Government to ensure that any development on the Park Lands publicly consulted upon, for a minimum of 2 months. * A requirement that any buildings over a certain size are returned to green public and open space when they reach the end of their lives. * A permanent ban on re-zoning of any areas of the Park Lands, unless the rezoning is an end-of-life re-zoning and required as a result of the above to return the area to green open public space. | A thoughtful and comprehensive response | 10 |
| Animal Justice Party | We need to explore mechanisms that ensure community consultations are not just a box-checking exercise that can be ignored, and that they actually play a valuable role in democracy. Additionally, planning powers delegated to local government are often overruled in contentious developments. The planning system needs an overhaul and I would consult with experts on what alternatives are possible to improve the system. | Better public consultation would be welcomed, but this falls short of seeking a limit on executive power to re-zone Park Lands | 6 |
| Greens | in 2023 I introduced a Private Members bill to prevent the re-zoning the Park Lands without approval of both houses of parliament. The Planning Development and Infrastructure Bill passed the Upper House, but was blocked by the Labor Government in the House of Assembly. Additionally, another Greens bill to strip the Minister for Police and the Minister for Health of their power to seize Park Lands for any new SAPOL barracks or development in the future passed the Upper House. Again, it was blocked by Labor. The Greens intend to reintroduce both bills after the next election. During this term of Parliament, I also tabled a motion in Parliament to stop the development of the second Walker Tower on Festival Plaza and have been firmly opposed to the Adelaide Golf Course redevelopment. We will continue to raise these issues in the parliament. | The party's track record and commitment to keep pushing these remedies in the next Parliament is a very strong statement of support for your Park Lands | 10 |
| Liberal Party | The Party's written response did not address this question. | 0 | |
| SA Labor | The last major, highly contentious rezoning proposal for the core Adelaide Park Lands was the Riverbank Precinct Code Amendment, announced in late 2021 by the Liberal State Government. In stark contrast, the Malinauskas Labor Government has protected and enhanced the Adelaide Park Lands. | The party's very long response (edited here for brevity but available in full elsewhere on this website) repeats often debunked Gov't claims that huge new buildings on your Park Lands (facilitated by ad hoc re-zoning) have either "returned" Park Lands or would make Park Lands "accessible". The response does not contemplate any proposal to limit executive power to re-zone Park Lands | 0 |
| SA Best | |||
