COORONG NATIONAL PARK

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (14:42): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation questions about the management of the Coorong National Park.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: During the last sitting week I asked the minister about comanagement of the Coorong National Park with the Ngarrindjeri people. On this issue previously the Hon. Michelle Lensink raised concerns of the community and local businesses which use the Coorong National Park, such as commercial fishers and tourism operators. These commercial fishers and tourism operators have been left out of discussions and are unaware of any impact this decision could have on the future operations of their small businesses. My questions are:

1. Does the minister now know what the outcome of the meeting with the Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority was and, if not, can he take this on notice and bring it back to the council?

2. What impact will these proposed changes have on tourism operators, boat access, the local commercial and recreational fishing sectors, and shack owners?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:43): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. The comanagement model of national parks, conservation parks and other parks in South Australia is a partnership between the state government and Aboriginal groups that is designed to foster a shared desire to manage land in a way that combines traditional knowledge with contemporary park management.

The National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 and the Wilderness Protection Act 1992 create opportunities for the cooperative management of national parks, conservation parks and wilderness protection areas over both existing Crown-owned parks and Aboriginal freehold land. This partnership was put in place through comanagement agreements. These agreements guide the comanagement of parks and can either provide for the establishment of an advisory committee which provides comment to the director of National Parks and Wildlife on park management or a full comanagement board which, as a body corporate, assumes the control and management responsibilities for the park from me in my capacity as Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, and also from the director of National Parks and Wildlife.

This government recognises this special connection that many Aboriginal Australians maintain with the land and the primary role of the natural environment and Aboriginal culture and tradition. In accordance with this special relationship, we have committed to the involvement of Aboriginal peoples and the management structures overseeing the maintenance of parks and other public spaces with which local Aboriginal people have affinity.

This government has a policy and legislative framework in place to continue making a real contribution to Aboriginal reconciliation, self-determination and wellbeing, while significantly improving the way parks are managed. Wherever possible, land use and ownership issues will be resolved through negotiations directed towards achieving workable and lasting coexistence. This government recognises that Aboriginal Australians' knowledge and experience of the land is a beneficial asset in the management and use of our environment.

The introduction of innovative new arrangements for comanagement of parks with Aboriginal people in 2004 is a major achievement of this government, which has been nationally and internationally recognised. Native title holders now comanage a wide range of parks and reserves around the state. Over the past 11 years, the government has handed back the Mamungari Conservation Park, with a comanagement agreement established for the Maralinga Tjarutja and Pila Nguru Aboriginal groups. We have also established comanagement boards for a number of other parks in the state, including the Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park, the Witjira National Park and the Flinders Ranges National Park.

More recently, we have established a comanagement committee for the Lake Eyre National Park, Elliot Price Conservation Park and Wabma Kadarbu Mound Springs Conservation Park. We have established a comanagement board for the Lake Gairdner National Park and a comanagement advisory committee for the Gawler Ranges National Park. We have also proclaimed the Aboriginal-owned Breakaways Conservation Park and established a comanagement board for that park.

Comanagement boards provide a valuable opportunity for developing a shared understanding of aspirations for the management of parks, a shared appreciation of environmental and cultural values and community interests, as well as building a solid foundation for working together through mutual respect, trust and understanding. Developing a draft management plan for the park which can then be released for public consultation is one of the critical functions of the comanagement board over the first few years of its life. Comanagement boards also establish policies that guide activities within parks, as well as issuing approvals for those activities. Such activities include general recreation as well as other more unique uses, such as filmmaking.

I am advised that cooperative management agreements are now in place over 42 per cent of the land area of the protected areas system in South Australia. This is a fantastic result and one that we are committed as a government to build upon. I am advised that comanagement negotiations with the Ngarrindjeri are progressing, with the aim of entering into a comanagement over the Coorong National Park and considering the future constitution of the park as an Aboriginal-owned comanaged park.

Similarly, negotiations are also substantially completed for comanagement of parks within the Far West Coast native title claim as part of our resolution of that claim. I am advised that the Federal Court has set a date of 5 December 2013 for a consent determination in relation to that. It is intended that all parks within the claim area will be comanaged, and I am advised that there will be a Nullarbor parks advisory committee that will have an advisory role over the Nullarbor wilderness protection area, the Nullarbor regional reserve, as well as the Yumbarra Conservation Park management board that will manage Yumbarra Conservation Park. I am told the Yumbarra Conservation Park comanagement board will also have an advisory role in the remaining 11 parks, reserves and wilderness protection areas within the claim area.

I am further advised that it is expected that the Ngarkat Conservation Park advisory committee will soon be replaced by a comanagement board as a stepping stone to hand back of the park, and I am told that a deed of variation to the existing comanagement agreement is being finalised ahead of establishing the comanagement board later this year. The government is very proud of its work with our Aboriginal communities in South Australia and developing these conservation park comanagement boards and plans and will continue to do so involving local communities, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, wherever it is appropriate.