Para Wirra Conservation Park

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (15:12): I have a supplementary question. I thank the minister for his involvement and completing the unveiling of the sign and the change of classification. Will the minister commit to work closely with the Friends of Para Wirra regarding volunteer concerns about the use of mountain bikes in what is regarded as unsuitable terrain, and in regard to the issue of camping in such an area of high fire risk, which is close to the northern suburbs of Adelaide?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (15:12): I thank the honourable member for his very important question. Yes, he would have been approached on the day, as was I, by some of the friends' groups who do have these concerns. I tried to convince them that in fact these concerns can be overcome, certainly by talking to friends' groups in other parks who have invested already, and who might have had the same initial concerns to start with but through a very collegiate approach from the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources—which I do commit will be undertaken with the friends' group here as well—we will be talking to them about this.

This was a government election promise and we have been delivering it in parks already. We will deliver it in Para Wirra. We and I am quite convinced that we can do these things in complete harmony with the parks and the visitation that we get at these parks. It has been the case, I think, that most people who have been involved in this process have recognised that the upgrades to the parks have, in fact, been incredibly beneficial not just for the local community who use them but for the community that has not been using them, and also of course for the parks themselves.

The more people you have on parks the more eyes you have out there helping you police those aspects that need policing, and the more people who are quite vigilant about people doing the wrong thing in parks. Having more people in parks is a good thing and it also is a great thing to have people out there just for their own health benefits, of course, enjoying nature and growing up to become defenders of the environment and of the parks that we have and love so well.