National Park Rangers

Dr HARVEY (Newland) (15:01): My question is to the Minister for Environment and Water. Could the minister update the house on the Marshall Liberal government's delivery of its election commitment to increase ranger numbers across the state?

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water) (15:01): I thank the member for Newland for his question. He is a great advocate for our national and conservation parks, and I know he regularly speaks to me about his desire to see more park rangers serving—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —at the coalface of our environment. We went to the election in March 2018 saying that we would increase park rangers in this state by 20. Do you know what we have done? We said we would do that by 2021; we have already achieved it. We've now got 22 new park rangers—new positions—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Deputy leader!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —working in the revamped and revitalised National Parks and Wildlife Service South Australia. But more than that, not only those 22 new FTEs but we put a message out into the environment department and said—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —'Are there people in this department who are interested in becoming workers on the front line of our agency's work?' People put up their hands, surprisingly enough. They wouldn't have under Labor because the transition to a ranger under Labor would have meant a transition out the door, but—

The SPEAKER: Minister, there is a point of order. One moment.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Sir, the minister is now debating his Dorothy Dixer.

The SPEAKER: I do not uphold the point of order, and I ask that the interjections on my left cease. If not, members will be leaving, and I don't care if they have grieves. Minister.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: Thank you, Mr Speaker; I'm just providing useful context. We said to the department, 'Who would like to be a ranger?' and we got another 12 people who were working in the department who have transitioned to become front-line rangers.

So that is 22 new FTEs plus another 12—an additional 34 rangers working in the National Parks and Wildlife Service. This is people working at the front line, engaging with our friends groups, working with communities, expanding the capacity of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, which means more practical outcomes on the ground.

This can only be a good thing for our national parks. It can only be a good thing for our tourism economy—because of course rangers connect with tourists and provide a more engaging service on the ground—and, of course, this is a great thing for regional communities as well. The majority of our parks are found in regional South Australia. We have a whole range of new rangers going to regional communities. The members for Flinders, Narungga, Finniss, Hammond, MacKillop and Mount Gambier—the communities that they represent will benefit from a boost in ranger numbers, and we have metropolitan rangers as well, of course.

We also have a big focus in this government on coastal protection. There are 5,067 kilometres of coastline in this state, and we want our rangers to be focused in terms of their skills, their experience and their expertise, on the unique challenges that face our coastal environment. So we see nine new rangers specifically focusing on our coastal parks at Port Lincoln, Ceduna, Kangaroo Island, Victor Harbor, Innes National Park—again, in the member for Narungga's electorate—and the precious Coorong as well.

We are backing our rhetoric. We said that we would increase the number of front-line services looking after our precious environment in this state and that is exactly what we are getting on and doing. We are hugely committed to our national parks: 21 per cent of our state is found within our parks network. That is such an important part of our state to protect in the face of a changing climate because, of course, land that is controlled by government can be rapidly activated in terms of conservation, so we are getting in there and we are providing the resources that our national parks need.

We have this new focused National Parks and Wildlife Service, not blended into other parts of the department anymore but empowered to get out there and connect with communities and connect with people who want to be part of environmental preservation. Under the previous Labor government—16 years—when a ranger walked through a national park—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Minister, be seated for one moment. Debate?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, sir.

The SPEAKER: I have always allowed some compare and contrast. Minister.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: Compare and contrast is so important. I will finish on this: 93 rangers when we came to office and now we are over 130—what a great thing for our state.