Question Time

WIND FARMS

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:35): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries a question regarding the protection of high value agricultural land.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: As revealed by the minister in parliament, her department has not been involved in the assessment process for South Australian wind farms. The minister has already told this place that the Department of Primary Industries does not routinely put in a formal submission on the impact of primary production on specific wind farm proposals, nor has the minister demanded those answers from her staff or her department.

However, the opposition has learnt that the Department of Primary Industries is already identifying primary production priority areas—areas that have natural characteristics like water, soil, and climate, and are highly suitable for farming. These PPPAs are being developed by PIRSA for the Department of Planning for incorporation in the next version of the South Australian Planning Policy Library. However, this vital work is not being given urgent priority on Yorke Peninsula where a wind-driven power station now awaiting approval will impact on about 800 square kilometres of prime cropping land. My questions to the minister are:

1. When was the process of identifying primary production priority areas begun?

2. When will the process finish?

3. Will the government wait to see if Yorke Peninsula is designated as a primary production priority area before approval is given for the 200-turbine wind-driven power station?

4. Have the District Council of Yorke Peninsula's chief executive officer, Andrew Cameron, or the head of Primary Producers SA, the Hon. Rob Kerin, been consulted on the formulation of these primary production priority areas?

5. Have you ever, that is, ever, met with the Heartland Farmers group on Yorke Peninsula regarding the highly productive farming land potentially impacted by the proposed wind farm?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (14:38): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. South Australia's primary industry lands are subject to increasing demands and more complex community expectations as well. Since 2012, PIRSA has been taking a more strategic approach in land use policy and planning to address these types of concerns. PIRSA is also collaborating with other agencies and stakeholders on mechanisms to provide clarity, predictability and confidence for primary producers in districts where mining and energy projects may develop.

I am aware of recent concerns about loss of productive land associated with urban encroachment and things like wind farms and mining, and questions about the implications of this for future food security. I am also aware of recent examples of land use conflict around issues to do with the right to farm and such like. These matters need to be addressed in a wider strategic context that includes things like climate change, water security, evolving NRM priorities and population growth. I am also mindful of the extent to which these matters are linked to regional development and the state/local government relations components of my portfolio, and to the strategic priority of premium food and wine from a clean environment.

It is clear that decision and policy making in this area has become a matter of considerable interest, not only to individual farm businesses but also to the local communities they serve as well as the general public at large, and I am very pleased to report that Primary Industries has been reviewing its role and focus in this particular area. PIRSA has shifted resources towards more active and strategically focused engagement in land use policy and planning, as it relates to primary industry.

I can also report that PIRSA and its interstate counterparts have resumed collaborative work on land use policy under the auspices of the ministerial standing committee on primary industries. In this context, PIRSA is participating in work that will address, amongst other things, land use policy measures for improving primary production.

Also on the national front, PIRSA is collaborating with the South Australian Department for Manufacturing, Innovation, Trade, Resources and Energy, under the auspices of the Standing Council on Energy and Resources, in the development of a multiple land use framework. A primary aim of this framework is to identify pathways for profitable and sustainable coexistence of the mining and farming sectors, in particular. Locally, PIRSA continues to liaise with the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure on measures to advance the case of the land use policy by the primary industries sector.

There are a suite of measures that this government is involved in in trying to ensure that land is used in the most suitable way, and trying to balance not only our agricultural and food security needs but also things like mining and energy and other resources. Work is being done on Primary Production Priority Areas by PIRSA. In addition, the first industry potential report we rolled out was for the Murraylands area, and that was a comprehensive mapping, if you like, of the area—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: When?

The PRESIDENT: The minister will ignore the interjection.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: That was a comprehensive mapping of what current land use is being undertaken, and it looked at a whole range of aspects relevant to future planning needs—such as water, power, roads, etc.—to make it easier for people wanting to invest in or plan for further primary production in that area. That plan was released about 12 months ago, I think; I was down there and released that. It may have been less than that, but it was roughly in that vicinity; it might have been six months (time always flies when you are busy).

Work is being done to conduct a similar mapping exercise throughout all the regions. It is a very intensive project that involves consultation not just with local councils but with other key stakeholders to pull together the relevant data for those maps. I have been advised that in terms of the Yorke Peninsula area, no time frame has been indicated for the mapping exercise for that particular area. However, as I said, it is the intention of this government to eventually roll out that exercise to all regions.

In relation to the particular Heartland group, I have not met with them but I have met with farmers from Yorke Peninsula who have raised directly with me their issues of concern. I believe I have also received correspondence—or it may have been copies of submissions but nevertheless I have received correspondence—outlining the sorts of issues and concerns that are involved in the considerations of the wind farm on Yorke Peninsula.

The PRESIDENT: A supplementary question from the Hon. Mr Ridgway.