House of Assembly Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1) 54 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Friends of National Parks Friends of National Parks Ms LUETHEN House of Assembly King Friends of National Parks Ms LUETHEN (King) (14:50): My question is to the Minister for Environment and Water. Can the minister inform the house how local friends groups are responding to the government's 2019-20 budget commitments to our national parks, including the Friends of Para Wirra in my electorate of King? The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS House of Assembly Black Minister for Environment and Water Friends of National Parks The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water) (14:51): I thank the member for King for her question and, of course, acknowledge her very significant passion for our natural environment, particularly working alongside the friends groups in her electorate to be able to maximise environmental benefit in the parks that are in her electorate. I particularly acknowledge the Friends of Cobbler Creek and the Friends of Para Wirra, two very active and growing friends groups which are doing great things in those conservation parks. I know the member for King and her family often join to help them with their planting and weeding, and I know her son much prefers the planting side of things to the weeding. It's a great pleasure in this job to be able to get out and about into our national parks, our conservation parks, our recreation parks—all our protected areas—and connect with the friends groups, who are doing so much to advance the conservation of those sites. Of course, the Department for Environment and Water could never do the work that they need to do or would like to do for our natural environment just with the workforce alone. It is so important to have friends groups who willingly go out on a weekly or monthly basis for their working bees to get into the removal of weeds—the woody weeds, the olives, the castor oil trees, the ash trees, the onion grasses—the member for King told me her family were removing recently. Those friends groups do so much for our environment, but it's not only the environment and conservation activities they undertake. Of course, the coming together of people with similar interests is great for our community as well—people connecting with one another, sharing ideas and being able to share their resources, whether financial or volunteer, to ensure that our environment gets the best care that it can. Since the announcement of the 2019-20 state budget, it has been great to go out and connect with friends groups all across the state, talking to them about our budget's additional funding—almost $12 million of additional spending in our national parks, our conservation parks, enabling a backlog of maintenance which has built up over many years, as the department was significantly reduced in terms of its budget under the previous government. To be able to reinstate some of that funding so that the much-needed maintenance can take place—the upgrades to walking trails, fencing, potentially car parking and signage—is making it easier for people to visit these areas, because we want people to be able to enjoy high-quality amenity in our parks. We want people to be able to be drawn in to our parks so that they will share them with their friends, particularly with visitors to South Australia, because our parks have so much to offer. Yesterday, I spoke to the house about the project down in the Southern Fleurieu, investing in our parks down there to create a multiday walk. We have 21 per cent of our state within our reserve system and there is so much needed to invest in these places, to lift their amenity, to lift the conservation value as well and ensure they can be what they should be. It is always a great pleasure to get out to our friends groups. Last week, as the member for King alluded to, it was great to get out to the friends, in particular to the north-east of the city, with the member for King and the member for Newland, and also see the Friends of Anstey Hill, the Friends of Blackhill and Morialta, the Friends of Sandy Creek and the Friends of Horsnell Gully—a great group of people doing great things for our environment, and this government will be backing our friends groups and investing in them.