Kangaroo Numbers

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (15:04): My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: He's back. The genius is back.

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee is called to order.

Mr TRELOAR: Can the minister update the house on how the government is assisting drought-affected farmers to address kangaroo numbers?

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE (Chaffey—Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development) (15:04): Yes, I can. I thank the member for Flinders. I know that when I was last up at his farm at Edillilie he had kangaroo problems on his front lawn

Many South Australian farmers have seen a significant amount of kangaroo pressure on their pasture and on their standing crops, so that is why the Marshall Liberal government has reached out to support not only farmers but also sustainable kangaroo numbers. We know that there are over 48 million kangaroos in South Australia. The sustainable harvest numbers are somewhere in the vicinity of 400,000. At the moment, they are harvesting about 120,000.

The pilot program that this government committed to recently was about putting a pilot program in place not only to help kangaroo numbers and the farmers struggling with drought but also to take the pressure off our pastures and feed for the livestock here in South Australia. As I have said previously in answers to questions, we are looking to grow our herd and flock numbers, and to be able to do that we need the feed and we need sustainable pasture present so that we can feed them, grow them and take them to market.

The $25 million is for working with Livestock SA in a three-month pilot program to help those drought-affected farmers. What it gives them is the capacity to commercially harvest kangaroos, rather than those farmers having to go out there and gain destruction permits at no commercial value. We know that for a long period of time the increased numbers of kangaroos has raised serious concerns about not only our environment but also the unsustainable number of kangaroos we see.

We are going to focus on the member for Flinders' electorate on Eyre Peninsula and in the Mid North. Those 10 landholders will have the accreditation, food safety accreditation and capacity to go out and commercially harvest kangaroo numbers. If that pilot program is deemed successful, we can then consider expanding that program. The state government is now seeking feedback on the commercial kangaroo management plan to expand the commercial harvesting zones.

If we can expand those commercial harvesting zones, it then also takes pressure off other landowners through not only the Adelaide Hills but also Spencer Gulf and down in the South-East. It gives landowners, the primary producers, a much better capacity to manage kangaroo numbers to be able to retain pasture and to be able to grow their livestock to create jobs and therefore enhance exports with their red meat sector.

This is a critically important pilot program through the state government, PIRSA, landowners and Livestock SA. It's a partnership that we see as a win-win-win not only for the farmers, for the kangaroo management plan, but also for our exports. It gives us a capacity to grow our red meat exports. It gives us a capacity to make sure that we help our farmers manage those kangaroo numbers.