PARRAKIE WETLANDS

The Hon. SANDRA KANCK (15:01): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Environment and Conservation a question about the environmental impact of the proposed Kingston coal mine on the Parrakie wetlands.

Leave granted.

The Hon. SANDRA KANCK: Last week a company called Hybrid Energy announced a proposal to develop a coal mine near Kingston in the South-East of the state. Almost immediately the government and the opposition announced unqualified support for the project, clearly without having done any homework about the environmental implications. It is almost 25 years since the Western Mining Corporation investigated this deposit and decided against it because of the problem of what is rather quaintly called de-watering, which is a process of sucking out all the moisture from the coal deposits and, of course, in the soil above it. This mine, if it goes ahead—and this has not been publicly recognised by anyone yet, it seems—will be directly underneath the Parrakie wetlands, with the de-watering resulting in the destruction of those wetlands.

The West Avenue watercourse, of which the Parrakie wetlands is a part, has been described by the minister's own department as 'arguably the largest and most pristine area of watercourse in the upper South-East. It is home to several species that are classified as nationally threatened and nationally vulnerable'. My questions are:

1. Does the minister agree with her department's description of the environmental values of the West Avenue watercourse?

2. Was the minister given any notice of this project prior to the public announcement?

3. Does the minister consider that the Parrakie wetlands would be placed under threat by any de-watering for the coal mine?

4. Will the minister direct her department to investigate this proposal in terms of the drying impact on the Parrakie wetlands, including extinction of the Southern Bell Frog in South Australia, and will she table any report arising from that investigation?

5. If that report advises of environmental concern, will the minister recommend to her colleagues that the project proponents be required to prepare an environmental impact statement?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister Assisting the Minister for Health) (15:04): I thank the honourable member for her important questions. At this stage, I am not aware of the status of this particular project and where it is up to in terms of the planning process.

The Hon. P. Holloway interjecting:

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: I was not aware that any plan for this project had been put forward at all. Clearly, if a plan was to be put forward there is a range of requirements (environmental, social and economic) that such plans are required to satisfy before they are approved. No planning approval has even been put forward, so all I can do is reassure the member that if it was to be put forward (and there is no guarantee that it will) then all environmental impacts will have to be satisfied, full EIS would need to be completed and, as I said, environmental, economic and social impacts would need to be considered.