VOLUNTEER AWARDS

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide) (14:50): My question is to the Minister for—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Port Adelaide, can you sit down a moment, please? Order!

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Unley, order! Minister for Transport, order! Member for Port Adelaide, can you sit down.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Unley and the Minister for Transport will remove themselves from the chamber for five minutes—and I suggest that one goes in one direction and one goes in the other.

The honourable member for Unley and the honourable member for Elder having withdrawn from the chamber:

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! We will have some order in this chamber; these are serious issues. The member for Port Adelaide.

Dr CLOSE: Thank you, Madam Speaker. My question is to the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation. What were the key features of the 28^th Friends of Parks Forum, which was held recently in Naracoorte?

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:51): I thank the honourable member for her question, and I acknowledge her lifelong commitment to the environment that we all depend upon. Environmental volunteers were recognised at the 2012 DEWNR Volunteer Awards in October for their outstanding contribution to conservation.

The awards acknowledge individuals and groups working directly with DEWNR on projects which provide long-term environmental benefits and the sustainable use of natural resources. The awards were presented as part of the annual Friends of Parks Forum, held at Naracoorte from 5 to 7 October. First presented in the 1980s, the awards have promoted a consistently high standard of achievement.

This year's Outstanding Individual Volunteer Achievement Award was presented to Arthur Simpson for his involvement in the Friends of Burra Parks, the Friends of the Heysen Trail, and the Burra Rangeland Action Group. Arthur has been an active member of these groups since their inauguration. Mr Simpson also participated in the restoration of the Tooralie Gorge Shepherds Hut and the heritage listed Coach House at Bimbowrie Conservation Park, where he has undertaken the role of volunteer caretaker.

Outstanding Group Volunteer Project Achievement awards were presented to three groups: the Biodiversity and Endangered Species Team, the Friends of Black Hill and Morialta Parks, and the Cultana Jenkins Shack Owners Association. The Biodiversity Blitz is an innovative project developed by the Biodiversity and Endangered Species Team in collaboration with DEWNR. For a week in the spring of 2011, 45 volunteers from the BEST and other volunteer groups undertook eight high-priority projects on Southern Yorke Peninsula.

The Friends of Black Hill and Morialta, in partnership with Para Broadcasters Association and the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges NRM Board, contributed to the development of 12 radio broadcasts, engaging with a wide audience to communicate the value of conserving South Australia's parks and reserves. The project embraces new technologies to link radio, website, photographs, CDs and podcasts in connecting people with environmental volunteering initiatives.

The Cultana Jenkins Shack Owners Association worked in partnership with the Whyalla City council, Eyre Peninsula NRM Board, Conservation Volunteers SA and local Aboriginal representatives to rationalise vehicle tracks over and around South Australia's only stranded shingle beach ridges and to promote natural regeneration of the surrounding remnant coastal vegetation.

The Friends of Parks organisation also presented its annual awards at the forum to the following recipients in recognition of their outstanding efforts: Best Biodiversity Project, the Biodiversity and Endangered Species Team; Most Supportive Staff Member, the Northern Lofty District Senior Ranger Erik Dahl; and Friends Group Achievement of the Year (incorporating the McLaren Shield), the Friends of Mount Gambier Area Parks.

Groups such as the Friends of Parks play a vital role in planning and implementing many conservation projects, and the government is committed to supporting the important work they undertake—and that support the opposition will have trouble in committing to, given their proposed demolition of the public sector.