West Coast Aboriginal Communities

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (14:39): My question is to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation. Can the minister inform the chamber about his recent visit to Aboriginal communities and services on the West Coast?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:39): I thank the honourable member for his important question and his interest in these matters. At the end of last month, I travelled to the Far West Coast of South Australia. While there are certainly some challenges over in that regional place, there are also some remarkable and impressive organisations and communities on the Far West Coast.

One of those very impressive communities is Scotdesco, an Aboriginal homeland about an hour's drive west of Ceduna. I know that very recently members of the Natural Resources Committee—some of whom sit in this chamber—visited that community. I think some of those have shared with me their impressions and how impressed they were at some of the aspects of that Aboriginal community.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: You're an expert sheep person.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I'll get there. Around 55 people live at Scotdesco. I was inspired by just how forward-looking and diversified the business activities at Scotdesco were. They run sheep. The community has accommodation for school students and conferences. There is an art gallery and the cafe with a very swanky new coffee machine that was completely wasted on me. I will have a cup of tea, or if I am going all out may be a hot chocolate, but I am afraid I let them down by not having a coffee out there.

The Hon. T.J. Stephens interjecting:

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I do enjoy a Milo, as the Hon. Terry Stephens suggests. A Milo and some Golden North ice cream would be one of my favourite evening attractions. I was particularly impressed to hear about their plans to commercially crop saltbush on marginal land and turn it into value-added products through a new high-tech milling process, products like protein powders and high-protein flours. This technology is cutting edge and the market is potentially massive and I will be very interested to see how they go with this project.

The whole community is on rainwater and I had the opportunity to look at their rainwater storage system. It has a channel that holds about 250 kilolitres and a bladder-like tank that holds something like 1,500 kilometres over a massive area that is a few acres that the channels do not hold.

Scotdesco is also home to the big wombat, yet another one of South Australia's great iconic big things and one that I had previously not had the fortune to visit. I thought I might have been served wombat for lunch, but I understand it is not mid wombat season at the moment, so I had to delicious lamb roast, fresh off the Scotdesco farm, instead.

The sheep that are farmed at Scotdesco are Wiltipolls, which I understand are Wiltshire Horn crosses with Poll Dorset, Poll Merino, Border Leicester and Perendale genetics infused. The Hon. John Dawkins, if he knows nothing else, knows sheep. If I have got this at all wrong, he will no doubt correct me. I have been out at the Gawler Show a few years ago, watching the Hon. John Dawkins judging sheep, so I know that he knows sheep.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I am proud that I am, like the Hon. John Dawkins, an agricultural and horticultural show judge as well. For the last couple of years, I have judged pastries at the Royal Adelaide Show. The sheep are quite remarkable sheep. They shed their fleeces and don't require shearing. Scotdesco owns about 25,000 acres of land, and with this sheep breed, numbers have increased to around 3,000 head of sheep. I would like to pay tribute to the leadership at Scotdesco, particularly Robert Larkin, who showed me around and took the time to make me feel welcome at the homeland.

I also met in Ceduna the community heads group and spoke about the implementation of the cashless debit card. From that group, the community heads group, the initial feedback is supportive. There have been implementation problems, but they have been working through these problems and there has been a commonwealth officer based at most of the communities west of Ceduna to help with the implementation.

I was told that there has been an increase in fresh food purchases at butchers and supermarkets and a decrease in gambling. The implementation seems to be going in the right direction, but obviously we will need to look at how the reform is working once it has been in operation for more time and the trial has been evaluated. I also had the opportunity to visit the Head of Bight, where in addition to the unique geography and whale watching—I think there were three or four whales there at the end of last month at the very start of the season—there are some spots of remarkable history and significance.

For example, we were taken down to a hidden waterhole behind the sand dunes at the Head of Bight beach that Aboriginal people, we were told, have used for thousands of years. Flinders missed it when he made camp right near the area, but Eyre was shown to it by the local Aboriginal people to refresh his water supplies when he made that crossing across southern Australia. It is a remarkable tourism destination. The ALT does a great job in making it a destination that many people who are coming through that part of the world across the Nullarbor visit.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: It was the ALT you said, wasn't it?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: The ALT.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: I thought you said the ALP.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: The ALT, Mr President. I know the ALP does remarkable things, but that is not one of the things it can claim credit for. That evening I stayed out at Yalata and bought kangaroo spaghetti bolognese for dinner, that was to help raise funds for football players to travel to Adelaide for the Don McSweeney Cup, which is coming up in mid-July. It is the football game of the representative Maralinga Tjarutja team against the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara team. I cannot remember exactly the date, it is before an AFL game at Adelaide Oval. I know that many members here avail themselves of the fantastic Adelaide Oval and will be at that game. If they go a bit earlier that would definitely be one to watch.

I also called in, as I had done last year, to the Koonibba community— it is about 40 kilometres north-west of Ceduna—and I was grateful to Corey and the chair of the community council who, on a Sunday afternoon, took time to meet with me and to take me around the community. I would like to thank everyone from those Far West-Coast communities and organisations who gave up time last month, and particularly much weekend time, in order to show me their communities and to talk about the issues that concern them.