Motions

Ngarkat Conservation Park

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (11:11): I move:

That this council requests His Excellency the Governor to make a proclamation under section 30(2)(b) of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972, to exclude allotments 104 and 105 in Deposited Plan 28853, Hundred of Fisk, from the Ngarkat Conservation Park.

The purpose of the motion is to excise the parcels from the Ngarkat Conservation Park and open them as public road. Under sections 30(2)(b) and 30(3) of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 an alteration to the boundary of the Ngarkat Conservation Park will require resolution of both houses of parliament and a subsequent proclamation by the Governor.

The Ngarkat Conservation Park is located 200 kilometres south-east of Adelaide and is one of four contiguous parks which, at 270,000 hectares, are considered the largest single remnant of native vegetation in the settled agricultural regions of South Australia. Ngarkat Conservation Park has a significant role in the conservation of biological diversity, provides a range of low-key recreational opportunities, and also provides an important overwintering area for the apiary industry.

The private agricultural property Kirra Station is wholly bounded by the Ngarkat Conservation Park. The Tatiara District Council has requested that the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources assists with formalising practical access to Kirra Station. This motion addresses the proposed alteration to the boundaries of the Ngarkat Conservation Park to allow for a road opening to create better access to Kirra Station. I am advised that Kirra Station is run by a private company and run as a farming operation, mostly for opportunistic grazing. Kirra Station has not been requested to make any contribution to the costs of effecting this change, I am advised.

The land opening requires 10.85 hectares of land to be excised from the Ngarkat Conservation Park. This land is located centrally in the eastern portion of the Ngarkat Conservation Park and makes up less than 1 per cent of the park's total area, I am advised. The Tatiara District Council, in return, has closed an unmade road reserve and surrendered it to the Crown. It is proposed that the closed road be added to the Ngarkat Conservation Park and that 42.78 hectares be used as an environmental offset and part of the overall realignment of the park boundary.

This excision has been supported by the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin Natural Resources Management Board, the South East Aboriginal Focus Group, the South East Public Lands and Biodiversity Advisory Committee and, of course, the Tatiara District Council, as they requested it. I note that the member for Bragg in another place put some questions on the Hansard for me, which I will respond to in writing, and I am grateful for her support for this motion. I commend the motion to council and humbly request its concurrence.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (11:14): I rise to support the motion moved by the minister in relation to this parcel of land in Ngarkat Conservation Park which will give access to Kirra Station. It is, of course, the road that has been used to go to Kirra for many years. I know that the member for Bragg put some questions on notice. For my own purposes, I would like to know whether the minister has been to Kirra Station or Ngarkat Conservation Park and along that road. As members would know, this is not far from where I used to live, and occasionally, when there was, sadly, a large fire in Ngarkat, our property would be covered in smoke.

Kirra Station was used as a quarantine station for a period of time for the purpose of bringing in new breeds of sheep. I have been looking on the web this morning and I do not think it still has any quarantine station status but, because it was isolated from other farming land and surrounded by national park, it was seen as a good location. Looking at the legend, it is probably only about five kilometres from the Victorian border, I suspect, but there is a large portion of uncleared and undeveloped scrub and vegetation on the Victorian side of the border as well, so it was quite isolated.

It does make sense when you look at the map that has been provided. The old existing road reserve that is to be added to the park is nowhere near Kirra Station and the road reserve that is actually on the alignment of an existing track, the road that has always been used to access Kirra. Anyone who has driven from Bordertown to Pinnaroo would have seen the big black and white sign that said 'Kirra' and I think, for a time when it was an operating quarantine station, it had some quite large signage there to remind people that it was a quarantine station with unauthorised entry, etc.

This is one of those things that just makes sense. It tidies up a little bit of ownership of the land. Tatiara council—which, of course, was my local council—is in full support, and so is the Murray-Darling NRM board, so the opposition has absolutely no qualms at all in supporting this motion.

Motion carried.