KANGAROO ISLAND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT BOARD

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (15:30): I rise to my feet to express some concerns about the directions of some of the natural resources management boards in South Australia. I know that other members have expressed concerns about some of the outcomes that are coming out of these boards. It is worth remembering that it is not so long since we put these boards in place and, indeed, in another life, I was involved with the transition and the original concept by the former minister for environment, John Hill.

However, I do have some concerns now about some of the activities and outcomes that are concerning South Australians. More to the point, I would like to raise the issue of some of the activities in relation to the Kangaroo Island Natural Resources Management Board and some of the concerns that are indeed being raised by members of the Kangaroo Island community.

One of the issues here is that you have an appointed board as opposed to an elected council or an elected board or an elected committee. I think this is where the thing is falling apart. We have an elected council on the island and in a lot of other places, elected from the community and charged with the responsibility of running that community's business.

We have a development board which is partly elected and partly appointed by the government, we have a host of government agencies, and we have an NRM board entirely appointed by the minister of the day. We have about half a dozen entities trying to run Kangaroo Island and interfering, in my view, to a fairly large extent with the activities and the direction of the elected council.

This has manifested itself particularly lately over the water issue, the Middle River dam, and, more to the point, the impact of forestry. Some years ago there was quite a land acquisition program started by forestry companies. Bluegum Forestry, in particular, moved in looking for a large amount of high production, high rainfall country to be sustainable.

Some of us had concerns about that, and some of us had doubts about the future, and indeed they were expressed on regular occasions, but the fact of the matter is that the development plan on Kangaroo Island allowed for that to operate and we have it now and, quite frankly, regardless of whether you wanted it or did not want it, the important thing now is that it be a successful industry on the island.

For a lot of these industries and all sorts of things you need more water. The Middle River dam catchment is the major catchment for the towns of Kingscote and Parndana and various other points in between. I am concerned that the natural resources management board is sticking its nose in here. I think it is out of order; I think the council is more than capable of dealing with this. Indeed, I am quite annoyed that there seems to be a takeover by an appointed board of elected members' responsibilities and it is of great concern to me. I know that some four, five or six months ago there was a motion within the board to have a meeting with the landholders and landowners and users of the area around Middle River to talk about the future.

I do not believe it needs prescribing. I am concerned that SA Water are running around on that and I am concerned that the natural resources management board has also got itself mixed up in it. I think now, finally, some sense is starting to take place and the chairman of the NRM board on the island is going to commission a meeting out there with those people to talk about it.

The chairman of the NRM board has indicated on many many occasions that she is adamantly opposed to forestry. The fact is, as I said, that forestry is there; it has to be made to work, and we have to have water. We have to have water for all sorts of things and, indeed, we should be digging more big dams on the west end of Kangaroo Island to provide for further extensions of agriculture or horticulture or whatever.

This is a most important thing to happen. It seems to me that impediments are being put in the way of orderly and proper development on Kangaroo Island in this case by a small group of people who are opposed to the world and any progress whatsoever. Doom and gloom: they think it is never going to rain again. Well, it is going to rain again; I hope it rains like blazes this winter, fills the dams up and we can keep on moving. I am concerned that when the minister comes to the time to reappoint or appoint members to this board, that she put on good practical people and not philosophical hacks who have absolutely no interest in where things are going, who do not want anything to change.

You have to get on with it; you have to come back to putting proper people on these boards, and the challenge is for the Minister for Environment to do so. I will be very disappointed if this board goes haywire, and I will be raising it in this place again. It is a critical issue for the island and I look forward to a satisfactory conclusion.