Parliamentary Committees

Natural Resources Committee Alinytjara Wilurara Regional Fact finding Trip

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (11:03): I move:

That the 117^th report of the committee, entitled Natural Resources Alinytjara Wilurara Regional Fact Finding Trip, be noted.

On 4 to 7 April 2016, the Natural Resources Committee visited the Natural Resources Alinytjara Wilurara region as part of its schedule of visits to the state's eight natural resources management regions. On the visit with me were fellow committee members: the members for Napier and Flinders, the Hon. Robert Brokenshire MLC, the Hon. John Dawkins MLC, the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars MLC and the member for Elder, who has since resigned from our committee.

The visit provided us with an opportunity to meet with a wide range of Department for Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR) staff, AW NRM Board members, traditional owners and community members. Alinytjara and Wilurara are the Pitjantjatjara words for north and west respectively, reflecting the region's location in the state. With more than 11 million hectares, Natural Resources Alinytjara Wilurara comprises more than half South Australia's public land, and more than half the region's area is dedicated Aboriginal lands owned or in trust with three major land holding authorities: APY lands, the Maralinga Tjarutja lands, and Yalata.

Due to the large size of the region and the challenges and costs inherent in undertaking a visit to remote regions, the committee visited only the southern portion of the region on this trip. Three years ago, the committee visited the northern portion, the APY lands. The findings of that visit are contained in a separate report tabled in the House of Assembly on 24 September 2013.

Accompanying the committee on this visit and providing comprehensive background information and commentary were the AW NRM Presiding Member, Mr Parry Agius, and the NRAW Community Engagement Manager, Mr Bruce Macpherson. Over the course of this four-day visit the committee also meet with many other regional and community staff and board members, whose knowledge and presentations helped informed this report, and I extend my thanks to them.

The committee observed firsthand many excellent projects undertaken with support of the NRAW staff and the AW NRM Board. On day one, the committee saw the recently completed Oak Valley water supply system, comprising 28 kilometres of pipeline, installed by a team of 12 men from the community using a special cart designed and built at Oak Valley expressly for this project. Water is supplied through the new pipeline from six bores via solar pumps to a tank facility near the community, and the members were impressed to learn that this system replaced a truck, which had previously carted 2,700 litres of water into the community every day, a four-hour round trip.

As well as providing this critical water supply, the project provided training and paid meaningful employment to members of the Oak Valley community. The water supply project was implemented in partnership with SA Water's remote communities group, and funded through the state and federal governments. Later that day the committee flew to Maralinga, where we meet with the incoming village caretaker, John Harrison, and toured the area with the outgoing caretaker, Robin Matthews, who is a long-time resident of Maralinga and very knowledgeable about the area's history and culture.

The committee heard that, although local people were understandably still very wary of the area, their confidence and desire to be involved with telling the story of Maralinga was growing, underpinned by the support of the commonwealth, the state Environment Protection Authority, the AW NRM Board and rollout of the state's co-management policy. This desire was reflected in the decision to support a tourism venture, Maralinga Tours, run by Mr Matthews with traditional owners' permission.

On day two, the NRC members drove from Ceduna to Googs Lake via Googs Track. At the lakes camping area, the committee met with the local traditional owners and NRAW staff to hear about the remediation of public areas and how the introduction of a statewide co-management policy assisted the project. The committee also heard that combining AW and Eyre Peninsula NRM staff in a single Ceduna NRM office was also beneficial.

It was explained to us that the rehabilitation project at Googs Lake had helped reduce negative visitor impacts and reverse the damage already done to the project, the area's cultural heritage and environmental values. A community meeting to start the project reportedly resulted in a strong and diverse turnout, reflecting widespread support for the project from all sectors of the community.

The take-home message seems to be that the solutions are found within communities and that co-management works. The committee was impressed with the co-management in the AW region, and we strongly encourage its ongoing support. On day three, members visited Yalata community and Aboriginal Lands Trust, including the visitor centre at Head of Bight where tourists can view whales seasonally.

Over the last two years, the Aboriginal Lands Trust has invested over $250,000 in the cultural centre with support from the Indigenous Land Corporation and the state Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure. Improvements include a solar photovoltaic power system for reliable energy supply to the centre and caretaker's house, and the resealing of the car park and access road. A grant from the Indigenous Land Corporation funded the construction and refurbishment of the boardwalk and shelters which had degraded in the harsh weather.

Ms Colbung said there had been concerns about the effects of recent seismic testing on the whales in the Bight, with surveys indicating lower numbers of whales visiting the Bight while seismic testing was ongoing rather than in previous years. The committee heard that Curtin University had been engaged by the oil and gas industry to conduct analysis of whale migration to the Bight. Previous annual visits were about 160 whales, but the 2015 migration season had only seen about 90 whales. This was a record low. However, I am pleased to note that the Curtin University researchers have recently recorded a high number of whales returning in 2016 since the seismic testing concluded.

On day four, the committee visited the Murrawijinie Caves on the Nullarbor Plain where we heard about the tourism and protection of cultural heritage. Next, we visited the Bunda Cliffs and heard about a track rationalisation project which was improving the local environment and increasing visitor safety. Members then travelled back to Ceduna Aboriginal Arts and Cultural Centre for a comprehensive debriefing—and I might say, spent a lot of money in the cultural centre—before flying back to Adelaide.

I commend the members of the committee—the member for Napier, the member for Flinders, the Hon. Robert Brokenshire MLC, the Hon. John Dawkins MLC and the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars MLC, and former committee member the member for Elder—for their contributions to this report. I would like to emphasise the great work that has been done by the parliamentary staff, Mr Patrick Dupont and Ms Barbara Coddington, for their assistance. I commend this report to the house.

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (11:12): I rise to contribute today to the discussion of the 117^th report of the Natural Resources Committee on the fact-finding mission to the AW NRM group. I was particularly pleased as a member of the NRC committee of this parliament to be a part of this trip because some of the electorate of Flinders is within the AW NRM region, even though it is much vaster than the far west of the state. As the Presiding Member, the member for Ashford, mentioned, Alinytjara Wilurara are the Pitjantjatjara words for north and west, so it aptly describes that part of the state with which we are dealing.

The Presiding Member has given an excellent summary of our trip, but it was particularly insightful for me because I was able to visit some parts of my electorate that I had not had the opportunity to visit previously. Others, of course, I revisited. I drove to Ceduna from my home on the southern part of Eyre Peninsula and met with the rest of the group.

Mr Pengilly: At what speed?

Mr TRELOAR: At 108 km/h, member for Finniss, of course. Why do you ask?

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

Mr TRELOAR: This visit was part of a number of regional visits we had been undertaking as a committee. Our intention is to visit all of the AW NRM regions throughout the life of this parliament, and it is particularly insightful. We are a well-travelled committee, a hardworking committee. It is a pleasure to be on this committee and it is an honour to visit so many beautiful parts of this state.

We met in Ceduna, and the first part of the expedition was to visit Oak Valley. We hopped on a plane and flew to Oak Valley, where we inspected a newly installed water system which will aid that community. Some of the work at least was done by residents of the Oak Valley community. The water will be conducted through a pipeline from six bores now, five that are fresh and one mildly salty, via solar powered pumps to a tank facility some eight kilometres outside the community. The water is then treated and gravity-fed into the community from this point. Communities, of course, are much more sustainable if they have an ample supply of potable water.

We drove from the tanks on to the Oak Valley community, where we were met by community staff, including the Oak Valley Education Centre principal, Ineke Gilbert. It is interesting that Oak Valley was founded in 1985 as an outstation for Anangu people who were moved down from Maralinga as a result of the British atomic testing. Some of the Anangu people were moved to Oak Valley. Others, of course, were moved on to Yalata, which we visited later in the trip.

One thing that was highlighted to us was the lack of adequate housing at Oak Valley. There is no doubt that the people who live there are proud of their community and want to be there. The comment was made that the community is suffering somewhat from its own popularity, because it is a place where people want to live and want to be at. It was, as I said, the first opportunity I had had to visit this, and it was the first opportunity I had had also to visit Maralinga.

We flew on to Maralinga, and of course that particular site has very much been put into the Australian psyche because it was the spot where the British tested their atomic weapons back in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Just at this point in time, the Maralinga site is being opened up, particularly focused on attracting tourists. It is successful, although some parts of the area are out of bounds because they are still too hot, to use a technical term, for tourists to go. It is on the wish list of at least some of the grey nomads; more and more are going through Maralinga and ticking it off. There is a very enthusiastic push to attract tourists.

We were unable to visit the remediated atomic testing site, which is about 40 kilometres from the village, although it was visible. We were very much reminded there of the Indigenous history, not just the British or the Australian history, and of the relocation of the Anangu people down to Oak Valley and Yalata, which was not without its challenges.

We headed back to Ceduna and visited the Ceduna Natural Resources Centre and heard there about the office shared between the AW NRM staff and the Eyre Peninsula NRM staff. Of course there is overlap: as the local MP for some of the EP and NRM regions and some of the AW NRM region, I also have an office in the Ceduna township. I was bumping into a lot of people that I knew in that part of the world, and I can only compliment them on their dedication to environmental sustainability and whole-of-landscape management, and also the co-management part of management of the parks.

I had heard a lot about Googs Lake and Googs Track. Even though it is part of the electorate, I had not had the opportunity to visit. It requires a four-wheel drive. We had a bit of an expedition north. There were a few gates along the way but we stayed with the track. We left the cropping country and travelled north into the scrub. It was an absolute delight to visit Googs Lake because, unusually, it had quite a bit of water in it as a result of the recent rains. There have been good rains over a lot of the continent and good rains throughout the pastoral country of South Australia. To see Googs Lake with a good amount of water in it was a real delight. It was also good to see the work the NRM board is undertaking there, really to manage the visitations, so that the impact of visitors is not too great on what is essentially a fragile landscape.

We went on to Yalata, the Indigenous protected area and part of the Yalata community. We met with Desley, whom the member for Ashford knew from some years ago, I think; is that right? They became reacquainted and renewed an old friendship. Yalata is not without its challenges.

The Hon. S.W. Key: No chairs.

Mr TRELOAR: No, that's right. Quite a bit of the discussion at that time was around the introduction of the debit card and how it was impacting on the people of the Yalata community. It is a somewhat transient community, but there are also those who are longtime residents. Even though I am the member for Flinders and Yalata falls in my electorate, I do not always have the opportunity to visit, so I was grateful for that.

We moved on to the Head of Bight Visitors Centre, which has gone ahead in leaps and bounds in recent years. Its focus is the viewing of the whales at Head of Bight. Numbers vary from year to year, and all sorts of reasons are given for that. Some are speculating that the seismic surveys may have had something to do with dwindling numbers—that may or may not be correct—but there were certainly better numbers this year. Once again, people from all over Australia are timing their visit to Head of Bight with the arrival of the whales, which is essentially through the winter season.

It is a really pristine part of our coastline and the visitors centre is very tastefully done. Of course, it was about that time that members of the Natural Resources Committee decided that they would start purchasing souvenirs in remembrance of their trip to the West Coast. We went down to the beach, a beautiful beach, as is much of the West Coast. We went to the Murrawijinie Caves on the Nullarbor Plain. I had the opportunity once before to visit a cave site not too far north of the Nullarbor Roadhouse, but this was further inland. We were told the story of how important these caves were to the Mirning people as a supply of water, as shelter and as a source of game.

The Mirning people are those people who inhabit the Nullarbor Plain in the far west of South Australia and into Western Australia. They are very much desert people. I also discovered for the first time that near Border Village, just this side of Eucla, there was a site where the local Mirning people sourced stone which was suitable for axes and arrows. This stone was traded throughout the desert country of inland Australia and was a very important part of the trade route. We all discover something and learn something new every day. It is a fascinating history to learn of the trade that was focused on the Nullarbor Plain.

Time expired.

Motion carried.