Country Cabinet

Mrs PEARCE (King) (14:25): My question is to the Deputy Premier. Can the Deputy Premier update the house on her country cabinet visit to the Limestone Coast last week and some of the work being undertaken by local businesses to be more environmentally sustainable?

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Minister for Defence and Space Industries, Minister for Climate, Environment and Water) (14:25): I am delighted to answer this question and thank the member for her question. One of the questions that has come up for me in this new range of portfolios I have is why I have such a broad range, having industry, innovation and science on the one hand, along with defence and space industries and also climate, environment and water.

In fact, if we go out into the world, into the community, many businesses, if not most businesses, are now already ahead of many politicians and many bureaucrats, dare I say. They understand truly that the future of growing our economy, the future of being sustainable and prosperous, is to be much more mindful of the impact on the environment that our businesses have and, in fact, able to take advantage of the opportunities presented in being in a very low carbon electricity generating state and, increasingly, in a sustainable and circular economy state.

That was really brought home to me on the recent visit that we had to the Limestone Coast as a cabinet—a very welcome visit, incidentally. It was a delight to be there, and a couple of the local members are sitting in this chamber. We were warmly welcomed by the community. I spent the first day essentially looking at environment projects and the second day looking at industry projects. In fact, I spoke about and listened, more importantly, to people talking about the environment, possibly even slightly more on the second day than on the first because it has become such an overwhelming driver for businesses to shift to a more sustainable footing.

On the first day, I visited some dairy farmers, the Muellers. Ian and Julie are the parents and Trent is the son—I think the third generation is coming up through. The dairy farmers had engaged in a water efficiency program there sitting on the Murray. It is very similar to that which we are begging the other states to undertake in order to give the 450 gigalitres but it is being resisted by the other states, facilitated by the great capitulator on the other side.

They were able to sell an allocation of water and invest in efficiency projects that then facilitated being able to have that water become part of the environmental flow. They were pleased not just to do the right thing for the sustainability of the river but, in fact, to make their farm far more efficient and far more prosperous.

I visited a number of friends groups in Bool Lagoon, including the Mount Gambier Area Parks, Bool and Hacks Lagoons and also Shorebirds South-East. Naturally, they talked a lot about the environment with me and the need to look after nature. The next day, when I spent time with Mondelez, Bio Gro, Kimberly-Clark and Timberlink, I heard just as much about the importance of paying attention to nature. Each one of those companies is working on not only treading more lightly on the Earth but, in fact, contributing and having a prosperous path through demonstrating to their supply chain and to the people that they are marketing to that they are more environmentally sustainable. That is the great opportunity that we have in South Australia.

We have an opportunity to not only do the right thing but be secure in our trade relations, which increasingly we will expect and every customer will expect low carbon and sustainability, and be more efficient and therefore able to extract more value and more profit. Mondelez is shifting to a proper wastewater treatment plant. Bio Gro is an incredible company that takes green waste and also forestry waste—the detritus that is left after clearance—and turns that into compost and sells that both in Victoria and South Australia.

Kimberly-Clark is looking at alternative sources of energy in order to reduce their carbon load and Timberlink has created a product—one is able to replace concrete and the other steel—that is far more sustainable than either of those and therefore much more zero carbon. It was a terrific visit. I was inspired by the Limestone Coast and very pleased to see the two sides of my portfolio brought together so satisfyingly.