MARINE PROTECTED AREAS

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (15:55): Last week we saw yet another chapter commence in the marine parks issue in South Australia with a visit to my electorate by the Minister for Environment and Conservation, which I welcomed. I am very pleased that the minister saw fit to go out and start to try to commence some damage control on the almighty mess that has been marine parks in South Australia. This saga has been going on for a while now.

Last week, the minister—and I point out to the house that she did not undertake the usual protocols and let the local member know—went to Kangaroo Island for a day and a half and then to Victor Harbor where she talked to selected groups of people, took people out to dinner and, generally speaking, tried to glean some information on where the community is coming from on the parks—and I commend her for that.

However, I am not so sure that the minister has been told everything that she needs to know on this whole issue, because one thing that did concern people on the Island who met with her was that she had little or no understanding of the impact of netting. Indeed, her comments were derogatory about net fishermen and the net fishing industry, in direct contradiction to the written evidence which proves that the type of netting we use here does not harm the bottom and does not damage the seagrass. That evidence has been sent to the minister, I understand, and I am sure that she will now take that on board.

I just get concerned that there are certain areas that push certain causes regarding this whole issue, and the netting industry seem to be the fall guys for everybody else. Hopefully, minister Gago will take that on board and she will understand that the netting industry does not harm the bottom with the nets they use in St Vincent's Gulf, Kangaroo Island and the surrounding waters.

Minister Gago did not really have any understanding. It was a fact that she had no idea that they fished for lobster in the Victor Harbor and Encounter Bay areas. She did not know that lobsters existed down there. I would have thought that after this amount of time in the position—

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson: How do you know that?

Mr PENGILLY: Because she indicated that at a public meeting, Mr Attorney, thank you. The former director of fisheries was there and he was the one who actually sounded her out on it at the meeting, for your information. Once again, I make the point that I do not know that the minister is being given enough information so that when she goes to these things she does not get caught in a trap. I think it is unfortunate that whoever is informing her and giving her material does not give her the whole balanced approach to this issue.

That takes me forward to where they are at the moment with the marine parks consultation and education process, which I also think is a very good idea. It has come a bit late like everything else. We are about two years down the track and they are just starting to go out to talk to the people they are going through the process of educating, and I refer particularly to young people for whom they are putting out information on World Environment Day.

They did that down at Victor Harbor at the reopening of the Whale Centre on Sunday. I was quite interested to walk through and see what they were handing out, and I pay credit to Mr Phil Hollow who is a very balanced and valuable member of the community who is working for the Department for Environment and Heritage on this whole marine parks process. If we had a few more Phil Hollows, I think you would get a lot more truth and a lot more balance into it. So, that side of it is good but the public education, particularly for young people, needs to be balanced.

I have an issue at the moment which took place last week with some of the education process on the island, not by the department for environment but by another organisation. Blatant propaganda was rammed down the throats of some schoolchildren who attended a function, but I will deal with that on another day. I think this thing has been turned around to some extent. We are yet to see the outer boundaries and, more particularly, the inner boundaries. It is a shame that we have had to wait so long to get some common sense.

Time expired.