FLORA AND FAUNA

The Hon. I. HUNTER (15:29): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Environment and Conservation a question about threatened flora and fauna.

Leave granted.

The Hon. I. HUNTER: The states and territories of this country carry much of the responsibility in relation to environmental management, but often the good work which is done in one jurisdiction and which can be beneficial to all is not shared. A similar argument about international environmental projects can be made. Will the minister inform the council of moves to ensure better cooperation with other statutory authorities undertaking environmental work that may ultimately be of benefit to South Australia?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister Assisting the Minister for Health) (15:30): I thank the honourable member for his ongoing interest in matters to do with conservation. I am very pleased to be able to report that South Australia stands to benefit enormously from an agreement signed last week with New Zealand's environment department. As members would be aware, New Zealand occupies a special place on the world stage record as there are areas that are incredibly pristine in its environment and also very varied areas, and it is generally a very beautiful environment. Like South Australia, our friends across the Tasman face many environmental challenges, such as introduced predators, balancing agriculture with conservation and many other natural resource management issues. For this reason the government has sought a new cooperative arrangement with New Zealand; one that will boost not only our conservation efforts but also our tourism potential.

The arrangement I signed on Friday with New Zealand's Minister of Conservation, Chris Carter, will see an even closer working relationship between our neighbour's department of conservation and our Department for Environment and Heritage. An open and free exchange of ideas and innovation, considering initiatives like staff sharing between these two fantastic departments, will effectively increase our knowledge of best practice standards and keep us up to date with the most innovative conservation techniques. For instance, our good work through programs such as Operation Bounceback or our captive warru breeding programs would benefit our New Zealand counterparts in helping restore populations of the Great Spotted Kiwi, and similarly we can learn from New Zealand's work at the forefront of conservation management worldwide and share in the valuable knowledge of its experts, including its exemplary management of its many parks and wildlife sanctuaries, which it does particularly well.

As members would be aware, we also share a direct link with New Zealand through the many migratory species, including birds, which move between the two jurisdictions, and these species will benefit from closer cooperation on their management. Already, work has been undertaken on the impact of rabbit haemorrhagic disease on the biological diversity of the Flinders Ranges National Park, and we have also seen the reintroduction of the tammar wallabies from New Zealand to Innes National Park. Both South Australia and New Zealand will clearly benefit from this accord and, by visibly linking our great environmental initiatives, we can both benefit from that arrangement.