Bundaleer Forest

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (14:45): My question is to the Minister for Forests. Can the minister update the house on the progress of the replanting of 150 hectares of the Bundaleer Forest?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Tourism, Minister for Recreation and Sport, Minister for Racing) (14:46): I thank the member for Light for the question. As everyone in this house would know, about 80 per cent of ForestrySA's Mid North commercial plantation estate was destroyed by the bushfires at Bundaleer and Wirrabara in 2013 and 2014. In 2014, we undertook to replant 150 hectares of pine forest in the Bundaleer Forest.

Unfortunately, as so often happens up there, the weather conspired against us. There was not enough rainfall in winter last year to be able to plant the pines in time, so only 60 hectares of the replant could be completed. But following good winter rains this year, crews have now been able to finish planting a total of more than 200,000 trees. I also want to report to the house that the well-known Mid North native forest locations, including The Range and Spaniards Gully, are now open to visitors once again. I am sure that is welcome news to people in the local area and also visitors to that wonderful part of the world.

Unfortunately, I do not have any specific news, but I would like to just update the house on the proposals for what these two very important areas of the Mid North may look like when the future use is determined. I have been a little frustrated, and I know the member for Stuart has been frustrated and the member for Frome as well, who have been great advocates for their local area, that we have not been able to get some more definitive decisions on what the future will look like. What we really want to make sure is that we retain the number of jobs that we have got there and, where possible, we grow the number of jobs that we have in the local area.

I sat down with the public officials who have been working through this. It has been an intergovernmental approach, so we have people in there who are looking at the tourism side of things and the environment side of things, as well as, of course, the forestry side of things and primary industries. They have all been looking at these 30 different proposals. I guess the easy way and the quick way we could have done was to have said, 'These five proposals, they tick the boxes, we are going to go with them,' but what they have done is try to overlay them in different ways.

While we may have one proposal which is for a big slab, we also have proposals for smaller land uses there which could deliver a higher value and perhaps more jobs, or perhaps even a greater community benefit. What they are doing now is working through that process. It's basically a bit like a Rubik's Cube: whichever way you want to reshape it and look at it, you can come up with a different outcome. I am grateful to have been able to sit down with those public officials and look at the 32 proposals that are there. Of course, there are all these commercial-in-confidence things around it as well.

Mr van Holst Pellekaan: When are you going to finish it?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: They want to have it by the end of this year. I have asked them—

Mr van Holst Pellekaan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Stuart is warned for the second and final time.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: We could have done a dirty, quick outcome for this—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: No—and it wouldn't have delivered the very best outcome for the people in your local area, member for Stuart.

Mr van Holst Pellekaan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I remind the member for Stuart for the second time that he's on two warnings.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: So, you can come and have a really quick answer and let the problem go away, but we only get one chance at this and we want to make sure that we come up with the very best result. When I spoke to the public officials they were saying, 'Can you give us until the end of the year?' I've asked them to come back by the end of September. They have to go out and they have to talk—there are 32 different applications in, and it's going to be some sort of blend of a whole lot of different ones to come up with the very best result.

Member for Stuart, I can assure you I'm frustrated that it's taken this long. I would have liked it to have been a lot quicker; but having sat down with these public officials, they are acting in good faith. They are working in the very best interests of the local people in your area and the member for Frome's area. I hope that we have a result that pleases you and the local community by the end of September.

Ms Sanderson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Thank you to the member for Adelaide for pointing out that the minister's time had expired by tapping her glass. The member for Adelaide.