Parliamentary Committees

NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE: ANNUAL REPORT 2012-13

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (15:56): I move:

That the 88^th report of the committee be noted.

The 12 months to the end of June 2013 has again been very busy for members of the Natural Resources Committee. The nine members appointed after the March 2010 state election continued their work on the committee with just one change, and that was in January 2013, when I was appointed to the committee in place of the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars MLC. There were no changes to staff during the reporting year.

In the reporting period, the Natural Resources Committee undertook 27 formal meetings, totalling 70 hours, and took evidence from 85 witnesses. Thirteen reports were drafted and tabled in the reporting period. These were the annual report for 2011-12; seven reports into natural resources management levy proposals for 2013-14; a review of NRM levy arrangements; an interim Eyre Peninsula water supply inquiry report, Under the Lens; the annual report on the Upper South East Dryland Salinity and Flood Management Act for 2011-12; Water Resource Management in the Murray-Darling Basin, Volume 3, Postscript Report, The Return of the Water; and a report on foxes, Hunting the Right Solution.

Of the five fact-finding visits undertaken in 2012-13, three related to the committee's Eyre Peninsula water supply inquiry, including visits to Ceduna, Streaky Bay/Robinson Basin, Port Lincoln and the southern basins, and the Musgrave Prescribed Wells Area, including the Polda Basin.

The committee was also fortunate to be able to undertake a tour of the northern part of the APY lands, including Umuwa, Indulkana and Coober Pedy. A day trip to Black Hill and Cleland conservation parks to learn about DEWNR's prescribed burning program was also very informative. The committee's inquiry into the Eyre Peninsula water supply was ongoing at the end of the reporting period, although it has since been completed.

I acknowledge the valuable contribution of the committee members during the year, that is, Presiding Member, the Hon. Steph Key MP, Mr Geoff Brock MP, the Hon. Robert Brokenshire MLC, the Hon. John Dawkins MLC, Mrs Robyn Geraghty MP, Mr Lee Odenwalder MP, Mr Don Pegler MP, Mr Dan van Holst Pellekaan MP, and the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars MLC. I thank them for the cooperative manner in which they have all worked together, and I look forward to a continuation of this spirit of cooperation in the coming year. Finally, I thank members of the parliamentary staff for their assistance. I commend the report to the house.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (15:59): I rise to endorse and support the comments made by the Hon. Mr Wortley.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: I make no comment about the pronunciation. I support the comments of the honourable member and note that he has returned to the committee in this second half of the year which this report covers. The Natural Resources Committee is a very active committee, as I have mentioned before. There are nine members and I think most, if not all, members are very active and committed to the work of the committee. It is sometimes difficult to get all nine together. I have illustrated in this place before my concern about the imbalance in the numbers between the two houses, and I still think that is something that should be addressed in the future, that we should not have a committee that has double the number of members from the lower house as against this one.

I think the Hon. Mr Wortley has covered the fact that we do have a wide-ranging area of responsibility. We work very hard to cover the large number of NRM boards right across the state and we will be furthering that work from the reporting period when we went to the APY lands. We will be going out to the Maralinga Yalata lands for the lower half of the AWNRM board next month. Once again I would like to thank the Hon. Mr Wortley for his words, particularly about the staff and the role that they play in our work and also, obviously, the chairmanship of the Hon. Steph Key, who manages the multipartisan nature of our committee very well. I commend the report to the council.

Motion carried.