NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (14:51): Is the government—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Darley.

The Hon. G.E. Gago interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Minister! The Hon. Mr Darley has a supplementary question.

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY: Is the minister considering a reduction of red tape imposed by natural resources management boards across the state and, in particular, the Mount Lofty Ranges?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (14:51): Sorry, I didn't hear a word of that.

The Hon. A. Bressington interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: I think the Hon. Mr Darley asked—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Does the Hon. Mr Darley want to repeat that?

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY: Is the government considering a reduction of red tape imposed by natural resources management boards across the state on farmers, in particular the Mount Lofty Ranges?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: I thank the honourable member for his most important question. This government is very committed to reducing red tape right across government. I have had discussions with my officers in PIRSA around ensuring that we can look at all the mechanisms possible for us around our regulation and enforcement to reduce red tape wherever we possibly can. I know that we are having a good look at that.

We recently had a look at the different licences across aquaculture and looked at land finfish. For instance, one of the things that we have done in the past is to have quite a complex licensing system for holdings that might not have any fish stock but have, in the past, put tanks or other infrastructure in place, and they have been required to pay exorbitant fees in an ongoing way to maintain the licence. I have asked the department to review that and to set up new and, I think, fairer and simpler fee structures and licence arrangements for those fishers.

We are already looking at a range of different strategies. As I said, all of government is committed to attempting to reduce red tape wherever it can and a lot has been done to progress that. We are always looking for new ideas and, of course, it is often those people out there on the ground who understand the nuances of how the system works and how interconnections between different departments are made and who have the potential to see where new opportunities for reducing red tape lie. We always welcome input from those people on the ground who, through their firsthand experience, can offer us further suggestions for future development.