MARINE PARKS

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (14:26): My question is directed to the Minister for Environment and Conservation. Minister, could you advise of the upcoming opportunities for South Australians to participate in the development of our state's 19 marine parks?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Environment and Conservation.

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water) (14:27): Thank you very much, Madam Speaker, and I thank the honourable member for her question and acknowledge her as a committed environmentalist. South Australia is fortunate to have marine ecosystems that are renowned for their unspoilt nature, and that is why the government is committed to taking action now to ensure that our precious marine environment is protected for the future; and the government is equally committed to developing marine parks with the full involvement of the South Australian community.

We want to develop a system of marine parks that are valued by the whole community, requiring the right balance to be struck between protecting areas of high conservation value and maintaining existing uses. To this end, the government is currently undertaking an extensive community engagement program to assist in the development of marine parks. In fact—

Mr Pengilly interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Finniss!

The Hon. P. CAICA: He can't help himself, Madam Speaker.

The SPEAKER: He knows he is misbehaving.

The Hon. P. CAICA: In fact, I think that members would be hard-pressed to find comparative examples where a government has undertaken such a comprehensive community consultation. Indeed, the government has received—

Mr Pengilly: You made a total mess of it, Paul!

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Indeed, the government has received input from more than 18,000 people in the last three years and established 13 marine park local advisory groups across the state to ensure that local knowledge is at the forefront of marine parks development. These groups have held four meetings with a further meeting yet to come ahead of the finalisation of their advice with regard to their—and I repeat 'their'—preferred zoning scenarios.

Members may now be aware of the government's series of community information days where recreational fishers and, indeed, all interested members of the community can come along and have their say on marine parks. These will be held around the state, including at Hove and Semaphore, on 9 and 10 April respectively. The government's position has remained consistent. We support marine parks and the need for properly informed public discussion of the proposals.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: But I have to say, Madam Speaker, and you can hear it now, that it really is unclear where the opposition sits on this matter. On the one hand, we have the member for Davenport, the former—

The SPEAKER: Order! There is a point of order. Member for MacKillop.

Mr WILLIAMS: The minister is now entering debate.

The SPEAKER: I will give him the benefit of the doubt at this stage. He has only just started. He will continue with his answer. Sit down.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will go back to his answer.

The Hon. P. CAICA: I will, Madam Speaker. On the one hand, we have the member for Davenport, the former leader of the opposition, who letterboxed his constituents looking to take credit for establishing what will become our fantastic network of marine parks.

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Madam Speaker. I think it is now patently clear that the minister is debating his answer.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for MacKillop will sit down.

The Hon. P. CAICA: I think it is—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will sit down also. At this stage the minister is just seemingly quoting something and I do not see where it comes into a point of order, but I will listen very carefully from now on. Minister, get back to your answer.

The Hon. P. CAICA: Yes, I am attempting to, Madam Speaker. Of course, if the truth be known, nothing much on the marine parks front did happen on the member for Davenport's watch.

Mr PENGILLY: I have a point of order, Madam Speaker. With respect to your previous statement, the minister is not quoting anything. He is reading and just debating. He is not answering or even attempting to read a quote from the member for Davenport, myself or anyone else. He is clearly debating.

The SPEAKER: Minister, I think you need to be very careful. I think you are starting to stray.

The Hon. P. CAICA: I will be extremely careful, Madam Speaker, and I will read from a flyer that Iain Evans delivered. The fourth dot point announced the establishment of 19 marine parks—

The SPEAKER: There is a point of order. The member for MacKillop.

Mr WILLIAMS: I am wondering what responsibility the minister has to the house for a flyer that Iain Evans put out.

The SPEAKER: I am wondering also, member for MacKillop, and we will see what point he is going to make out of this.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: Thank you, Madam Speaker. On the other hand, we have the member for Bragg, the indefatigable aspirant leader, who has set about a campaign of deliberately misleading the public, including—

The SPEAKER: Order! There is a point of order. The member for Norwood.

Mr MARSHALL: I raise the point of relevance. The question was about the government's consultation. It had nothing to do with the opposition's excellent consultation on this topic.

The SPEAKER: Order! Sit down, member for Norwood. I do not uphold that point of order.

The Hon. P. CAICA: Of course, Madam Speaker, the point is that the process of consultation which the government is undertaking is being, if not compromised, diverted by the mistruths and misinformation that is being handed out by the Liberals. We talk about—

Mr Pengilly interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I warn the member for Finniss.

The Hon. P. CAICA: It's an audition for the front bench. I mean, deliberately misleading, the member for Bragg, by including through—

The SPEAKER: Order! There is a point of order. Member for MacKillop.

Mr WILLIAMS: The minister is definitely debating now. By saying 'deliberately misleading', I don't think it is factual. I think it is opinion.

The SPEAKER: As I have said before, the minister can choose to answer a question as he chooses. Relevance, debate, whatever—I give a lot of leeway to people in asking questions and I can also do the same in answering questions. Minister.

The Hon. P. CAICA: Madam Speaker, it is not factual. It is fact, in fact. What is fact is that you are promoting misleading information. Of course, we have here a flyer distributed by the member for Bragg that is—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Bragg!

The Hon. P. CAICA: —completely and utterly scaremongering in the face of what is being—

Mr PENGILLY: I have a point of order, madam.

The SPEAKER: Point of order. Member for Finniss.

Mr PENGILLY: It is point of order 127.

The SPEAKER: No, I do not think he has made any personal reflection yet on the member for Bragg, and I am sure he is not. If he does, he will be made to sit down.

The Hon. P. CAICA: Of course, Madam Speaker, and I accept that, but the flyer makes the false and outrageous claim that you will not be able to fish in marine parks. This, of course, is absolute nonsense. 'Marine parks. Do not fish', quoting from her flyer, Madam Speaker. This, of course, is absolute nonsense but it demonstrates the sort of depths the former deputy leader will plummet to for her own political gain.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: Then, Madam Speaker, we have the member for—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for Norwood! I warn the member for Norwood.

The Hon. J.W. Weatherill: What has that got to do with her portfolio?

The Hon. P. CAICA: Well, that is a good question, as to what it has got to do with her portfolio, but I am not going there. She can do what she wants, as long as it is factual. But then there is the member for Finniss who, on several occasions, has offered colourful insights into his views on marine parks. Talk about a wolf in sheep's clothing, or whatever the maritime equivalent is of that. In between running about scaremongering and perpetuating misinformation, he claims to be an ardent supporter of marine parks. However, when provided with the opportunity to become better informed on the issues, he can embark only on what are cynical and, at times, offensive attacks on the officers who are trying to cure his ignorance.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: To use some of his own words—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: —the only voodoo politics is coming out of the opposition. Of course, the member for Finniss is also contributing—

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: I'm using his words.

Mr WILLIAMS: On a point of order.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for MacKillop.

Mr WILLIAMS: This is a disgrace on the parliament. The minister is just hurling abuse at the opposition when he is supposed to be answering questions on the matters which he is responsible to the parliament for. It is an absolute disgrace.

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister, go back to your answer. You have been going now for something like eight or nine minutes. I am sure you are about to wind up quickly.

The Hon. P. CAICA: I'm not far from winding up, Madam Speaker.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! And I am sure the minister's answer will be relevant to the question.

The Hon. P. CAICA: It is. Of course, the member for Finniss is also contributing to our prisons' policy, suggesting that government may need to make more room in our prisons for recreational fishers. What an absolute disgrace for a so-called community leader to behave in this way.

Mr Pengilly interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Finniss, you are warned for the second time.

The Hon. P. CAICA: We have the shadow minister, the Hon. Michelle Lensink—and who knows what position she has; they can't even work out who has carriage of this particular portfolio. In spite of some of the outrageous claims made by members opposite, all our marine parks will be accessible for both recreational and commercial fishing, and the government has committed to ensuring that. Wherever possible, sanctuary zones will be located in areas of low—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: They don't want to know.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: Madam Speaker, it's a bit like—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: At least, I hang around, mate. If my town is blown over, I'd be there.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will wind up his answer.

The Hon. P. CAICA: I will indeed, Madam Speaker. I will finish off with this point, if you will allow me. I have provided several briefings, and there is another one this afternoon on the scientific aspects of marine parks. Just to give you an example, Madam Speaker, again, the person who called for a meeting, the Hon. Michelle Lensink, did not come until half an hour into that meeting. The member for Finniss did a runner, went off to speak to the radio—and what a snow job it was.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: They don't want to be informed, Madam Speaker, because it's not in their best interests to be informed on this particular process. There is still further consultation to go—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: —in relation to how we best manage our marine parks for the future. I invite the opposition again, as I have before, here and now, to take a constructive approach to this process, instead of trying to obstruct a community-driven process they publicly claimed to support.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!