MARINE PARKS

The Hon. A. BRESSINGTON (15:06): A supplementary question: can the minister quantify how many kilometres 6 per cent of our coastal waters will be affected? What is 6 per cent in kilometres? Can he also answer how the Kangaroo Island economy is going to be affected by these marine parks?

The PRESIDENT: Is that square kilometres or nautical miles or square nautical miles? Kilometres.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:07): I thank the honourable member for her most important question and though I must confess I don't quite understand what she is asking for—

The Hon. A. Bressington: How many kilometres is 6 per cent of our coastline that will be affected by marine parks?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Sir, she may be referring to square kilometres, I'm not quite sure—

The PRESIDENT: Maybe.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: —or she may be referring to the length around the boundaries and adding them all up into linear nautical miles perhaps.

The Hon. A. Bressington: Square kilometres will be fine.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: What I will do is undertake to ask my department for that exact amount and come back to her with the answer.

The Hon. A. Bressington: What about the economy of Kangaroo Island?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: The economy of Kangaroo Island—can I say that I have every faith in the fact that our tourism potential that comes from these marine parks will mean that our coastal towns and communities will benefit hugely from increased patronage. People want to come and recreate and fish and swim and boat next to our marine parks, particularly the sanctuary zones, and I am very confident in the fact that the economic effects of tourism will be very large— huge, indeed—for places such as Kangaroo Island.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Ms Bressington, you have a further supplementary?