Ministerial Statement

ARKAROOLA WILDERNESS SANCTUARY

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (15:16): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted..

The Hon. M.D. RANN: On Friday I travelled to the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary, and later was joined by the Minister for Environment and Conservation, to unveil the legislation that will protect the area forever. Arkaroola is unique with sensitive environmental, cultural and heritage values. As members may recall, we announced the area would be protected earlier this year. We unveiled a three-step process; first, to exclude the area from the Mining Act, then to provide special legislation to protect the area, and then to nominate it for world heritage listing.

In July the government removed Arkaroola from operations under the Mining Act, preventing future mining exploration and mining titles being granted in the area. Today, I will give notice that the Minister for Environment and Conservation have leave tomorrow to introduce the Arkaroola Protection Bill 2011, which will protect the cultural, natural and landscape values of a defined area, to be known as the Arkaroola Protection Area, and will exclude exploration and all forms of mining. The legislation will also ensure that any future development in the area is done in a way that the protection of these values has the highest consideration.

I have also written to the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, signalling our intention to have Arkaroola listed on Australia's National Heritage List and, subsequently, the World Heritage List. As a precursor on these national and world heritage nominations, we also recently nominated Arkaroola to be assessed for its state heritage significance, and I am pleased to say that last week, on 12 October, the South Australian Heritage Council provisionally listed Arkaroola on the state Heritage Register.

Before introducing the legislation this week, we have consulted with Doug and Marg Sprigg, as well as the traditional owners of the ancient landscape. The native title rights of the Adnyamathanha people will be fully respected by this legislation and Aboriginal heritage will be able to continue to be protected.

The bill has a specific provision to support the conservation of objects, places or features of cultural value to the Adnyamathanha people, and the legislation will continue to support the determined native title rights of the Adnyamathanha. The Adnyamathanha will also be involved in developing the management plan for the area.

Since coming to office in 2002, we have made an unprecedented contribution to protecting South Australia's unique environment. In the past nine years the state government has created 51 new parks and made additions to 36 other parks, and the public protected area system now covers 21 million hectares, or 21 per cent of the state.

South Australia now has 13 wilderness protection areas, taking the total amount of land afforded the highest level of protection to 950,000 hectares. When the Nullarbor wilderness protection area is proclaimed in coming months, this will increase to more than 1.8 million hectares, representing not 26 per cent but a 26-fold increase in the amount of wilderness protection area proclaimed since the Labor government came to power in 2002.

I know there are some who oppose this decision to protect Arkaroola, but I am sure that neither I nor this cabinet nor this side of politics will ever apologise for doing what is right. We are unashamedly pro-mining but we have determined that the unique nature of Arkaroola justifies the decision to ban mining there. This bill will ensure that all types of mining, including sub-surface mining, are banned in the Arkaroola protection area. We have vast reserves of uranium in South Australia. Quite frankly, it would have been wrong—totally wrong—to allow the pristine wilderness of Arkaroola to be damaged through mining.