Giant Pine Scale

Mr BASHAM (Finniss) (15:09): My question is to the Minister for Climate, Environment and Water. Will the government commit to funding replanting and environmental restoration of areas affected by giant pine scale outbreaks?

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Minister for Climate, Environment and Water, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Minister for Workforce and Population Strategy) (15:09): That is not an easy question for one minister to answer, given the different tenure of land that has been affected by giant pine scale. For members—I am sure people have been paying attention—this is a very nasty disease that runs through pine trees.

There have been outbreaks of this discovered through the north-east, and the north-eastern members of course are well aware, and much of that has been on land owned by SA Water, some on land that I think is owned by the minister for renewal but managed by the Department for Environment and Water, and some on land that's Crown land but given over to the care and control of the local council.

There are a number of different tenures of land and therefore different questions about how restoration of vegetation might take place, and replaced with what? So a question of whether it would be replaced by some sort of pine tree or a non-native species, but more of interest to myself and the environment department would be opportunities for replacement with native vegetation.

There is an active discussion going on at present with the council on how that reserve, given that it has been cleared, might have native vegetation put in and under what scheme, whether there are some grant fundings that are available. That is being actively looked at at present. I also note that, if anyone finds that they have giant pine scale, should they have pine trees on their own private property, which is not common but does happen in a scattered way, they ought to get straight on to PIRSA because there is an absolute desire to eliminate the pest where it is found, and the faster it is seen and the tree is taken down the better.