Parliamentary Committees

Natural Resources Committee: Levy Proposals 2017-18

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (11:01): I move:

That the 120^th to the 122^nd reports of the committee, relating to various natural resources management board levy proposals for 2017-18, be noted.

One of the responsibilities of the Natural Resources Committee as set out in the Natural Resources Management Act 2004 is to consider and make recommendations on the NRM levy proposal by a natural resources management board where the levy increase exceeds the annual rise in the consumer price index for Adelaide, or where a regional NRM board is conducting a statutory review of its regional NRM plan.

These reviews must occur at least once during each period of 10 years following the adoption of the plan. This year, of the seven NRM regions raising levies, three regions were conducting regional plan reviews. The Eyre Peninsula NRM Board proposed 3 per cent increases for both land and water levies, the South Australian Arid Lands NRM Board proposed 1.2 per cent increases for both land and water levies and the Kangaroo Island NRM board proposed a 118 per cent increase for its regional levy. The KI region does not have a water levy.

The committee was satisfied that there were no issues with the Eyre Peninsula and Arid Lands levy proposals, which are similar to those proposed in each region's business plan as presented last year. Special consideration was given to the KI NRM levy proposal, as 118 per cent was significantly higher than the others and much higher than the year's CPI reference rate of 0.7 per cent. On this matter, however, the committee accepted the advice of the KI NRM board presiding member, Richard Trethewey, that this increase was absolutely necessary primarily due to the need to maintain staffing in priority program areas. Mr Trethewey said:

There has been quite some discussion off the Island about our new NRM levy because we have made a bold move to increase the levy from what is currently $36 per rateable property in 2016-17 to a new figure of $79 per rateable property for 2017-18…It will raise the levy that we generate on the Island from rateable properties from $176,000 to $385,000, so it virtually doubles that amount of money.

We believe [it's] absolutely necessary because we are currently totally understaffed in our weed and feral animal program. We have two people working there. We desperately need to increase that to three people and maintain the equipment, et cetera, that works with that, and we need to be able to [create] greater emphasis on our water management area. We need to recognise that we [have been] able to leverage money from other various government departments and other areas by having the board intact and by doing this work. The amount of money that we [have been] able to leverage was an extra $17.24 for every one of those dollars that we raised in the levy, so there is significant capacity.

Given that the KI NRM Board is authorised under the NRM Act to select a basis for rates, it is my view that in the future options other than a flat rate charge on all rateable land should be considered, as options prove fairer and more equitable to the community.

For the time being, though, the committee accepted the argument that the actual increase per rateable property was reasonable, justifiable and, on its own, unlikely to cause the community undue hardship. After deliberation, the Natural Resources Committee resolved unanimously at its meetings on 19 May 2017 and 2 June 2017 that it did not object to the levy proposals for all the regions under consideration, namely, Eyre Peninsula, South Australian Arid Lands and Kangaroo Island.

As always, I would like to take the opportunity to thank the boards, the volunteers and the DEWNR regional staff for the excellent work they do under very challenging conditions. Every time the committee visits the regions, we are without exception extremely impressed by the hard work and dedication shown by all the people that we meet who work for and with the natural resources management boards.

I commend the members of the committee: the member for Napier, the member for Colton, the member for Flinders, the Hon. Robert Brokenshire MLC, the Hon. John Dawkins MLC and the Hon. John Gazzola MLC for their contributions. All members have worked cooperatively on their deliberations and this report. Finally, I would like to thank the parliamentary staff for their assistance: Mr Patrick Dupont, executive officer, and Ms Barbara Coddington, our research officer. Sadly, Ms Coddington will be leaving the committee shortly, and I would like to wish her all the best in her future activities. She really has been a very important part of our team. I commend this report to the house.