CONSERVATION PARKS

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (15:13): My question is to the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation. Will the minister inform the chamber about the new management plans for the Ediacara and Bimbowrie outback parks?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:13): I thank the honourable member for her most important question. I am pleased to advise that the future of two important outback parks, the Ediacara Conservation Park and the Bimbowrie Conservation Park, are now much more secure thanks to the efforts of local landholders, traditional owners and, of course, the Jay Weatherill government.

As a result of consultation with all stakeholders and cooperation between these parties, new management plans have been put in place for both of these parks. Due to their remote location, these parks attract few visitors, but in terms of scientific and ecological value and cultural value to the local Adnyamathanha people, they rank particularly high. In the case of Bimbowrie, there is also significant post-settlement South Australian history on display.

In the case of the Ediacara Conservation Park, it is internationally renowned for its fossil collection. Indeed, I am told that, for palaeontologists, it is a veritable gold mine. Indeed, I think that my leader, the Hon. Gail Gago, spoke of this at great length many years ago in this place, and I was highly excited at the time at the idea of the fossils, and I mentioned with some banter across the chamber about fossils on the other side. I note that two of them are gone, but one is still here, a fossil named Lucasaria has been here for year after year after year and looks like maybe, sir, even outlasting you and me. I commend that bit of Hansard to members who were not there at the time; it was very entertaining reading.

North-west of Leigh Creek, Ediacara contains fossils displaying some of the earliest known multicellular organisms. The discovery of these fossils has been so illuminating in the quest to discover the origins of life on earth that in 2004 a new geological period was named and dated as the Ediacaran period. This was as a result, of course, of the great South Australian geologist Dr Reg Sprigg and his work in locating them back in 1946. Of course, their value was not realised at that particular point in time, but as people came to be aware of these fossils, their international renown grew.

For anyone who has not heard of Dr Sprigg AO, I can advise his story is one of great interest to anyone passionate about science or indeed the state of South Australia. He was the secretary of the Australian Association of Scientific Workers for some time—he was a good trade unionist—where he represented those employed in the scientific fields with great passion and commitment.

Now thanks to this partnership between the state government and the Adnyamathanha people, further palaeontological work can continue at Ediacara whilst Aboriginal cultural values and the park's plants, animals and fossils are all protected. Bimbowrie Conservation Park, north of the Barrier Highway, covers some 72,000 hectares and is known for its arid-zone habitats. It holds special significance for the local Aboriginal people and is also home to several historic buildings, such as the Antro Woolshed and many relics associated with Cobb & Co coaches.

One aspect of the management plan for Bimbowrie was continuation of a coordinated fox and rabbit management program which is supported and assisted by the park's neighbouring landholders. I want to remind members that this state of ours has plenty of cultural importance and scientific value, even in some of our most remote locations, and those sites need to be protected into the future.