MORIALTA CONSERVATION PARK

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (14:51): My question is to the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation. Will the minister inform the chamber about additions of land he recently announced to one of Adelaide's favourite conservation parks, the Morialta Conservation Park?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:51): I am very pleased to take this important question from the honourable member who, I know, bikes up and down conservation parks in his spare time.

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink: Have you been hiking there?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: I don't know about hiking, but biking is what he does. It gives me great pleasure to report to the chamber that on 15 July this year I announced the addition of more than 51 hectares of land to the Morialta Conservation Park.

Morialta Conservation Park, as the honourable member correctly states, is one of Adelaide's favourite conservation parks. Nestled in the foothills of the suburbs of Morialta and Rostrevor, the park stretches up through the Hills to Montacute. The park itself is not only a valuable green space for nearby residents and those who come to enjoy the park but is also an important habitat and reserve for fauna and flora.

Koalas, echidnas and all manner of skinks and lizards can be seen at Morialta regularly, plus a wide variety of native birds, including the superb blue wren, the yellow-tailed black cockatoo and, I am advised, the occasional kookaburra. On the flora front, stringybark, pink gum, blue gum, red gum and manna gum can all be seen at Morialta. In the months of spring, I am told that the wild bush flowers of the Acacia pycantha and the Senecio quadrientatus can be seen in abundance along the tracks. In the wetter months, Morialta's three levels of waterfalls and the associated walking trails provide a great experience of the natural environment and are a favourite haunt of photographers.

Morialta has been a public reserve since 1915, following the donation of 218 hectares of land by John Smith Reid in 1913. Since then, countless South Australians and visitors from across our nation and overseas have visited this park for bushwalking, birdwatching, rock climbing, picnicking and general recreation activities.

That is why I was pleased to announce just a few weeks ago this important addition of land to the park that included former crown lands and roads that were established as far back as the 1840s, I am told, and a portion of private land that was acquired for the purpose. This addition of land means that the park is now over 580 hectares in size, or more than double its original size and, most importantly, it all now falls under the protection of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972.

This is great news, and I am pleased to advise that this addition has been widely supported by the local community and, in particular, by the Friends of the Black Hill and Morialta Conservation Parks volunteer group, who have for a long time been committed to the park's protection, its health as an ecosystem, and its value as a recreation space for the people of Adelaide. I want to congratulate all those involved with this process and commend their efforts to this chamber.