FORESTRYSA

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (14:30): I have a supplementary question. Given part of the minster's answer, and I quote 'going forward', the question is: can the minister rule out any further sales of ForestrySA land remaining in South Australia?

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) (14:30): I do not think that any of it at this point in time is saleable. We have two fairly small forests that have been retained by the government—the Mount Lofty and Mid North. The Mid North forest I do not believe has ever made a profit; I do not believe it really has the capacity to do that because of its nature. Those plantations have lots of other values: they have significant community value; they are very important native reserves; and they provide a great community service as well. In terms of community value, the government certainly acknowledges how important they are.

In terms of the Mount Lofty plantation reserves, again, it is a relatively small plantation. At present it is struggling to break even. We are working towards that. It is going to be quite a challenge for us to even bring it up to the stage of breaking even. I doubt that those plantations are in a condition for sale and, as I said, our native reserves have a very important community value to us. We certainly do not have any intention of selling either the commercial components that are retained or the native plantations.