Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary

Ms PRATT (Frome) (15:55): My question is to the Minister for Climate, Environment and Water. What initiatives have now been progressed by the Department for Environment and Water to support five million migratory birds that feed in my electorate? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Ms PRATT: In a letter to me dated two months ago, the former minister stated that:

Potential impacts of the algal bloom on migratory birds and the Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary have been identified as a key issue from the government's preliminary species assessment.

The Hon. L.P. HOOD (Adelaide—Minister for Climate, Environment and Water) (15:56): I thank the member for the question. I understand that is correspondence that was provided to the former Minister for Climate, Environment and Water, and I am more than happy to follow up that correspondence with my office and bring an update back to the house. But you are right: it is incredibly important that we are looking after our migratory bird populations.

Just on the weekend, I had the pleasure of going down to Lake Hawdon North in Robe, where we have undertaken a significant project around restoring wetland habitat for migratory birds. That was an $11.7 million joint program with the federal government and it was wonderful to see the completion of that project in order to be able to assist our migratory birds to have safe places to feed and rest. They have actually installed a water regulator that allows prolonged periods of inundation in that wetland, which provides the ideal place for migratory birds, when they arrive, to be able to rest and feed.

So I understand how important investment in resilience and building resilience and recovery in our migratory bird populations is. I appreciate the member's passion for this in her own electorate and I will endeavour to bring an answer back to the house.