Country Cabinet

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (14:55): My question is to the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation. Will the minister inform the chamber about the country cabinet visit to Kangaroo Island and the Fleurieu Peninsula?

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (14:55): I thank the honourable member for his very important question.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Mr President, we have so many stories to share with the Hon. David Ridgway. He will be very interested to hear that two weeks ago my cabinet colleagues and myself undertook a three-day visit to Kangaroo Island and the Fleurieu Peninsula for country cabinet. Since the 2014 election, cabinet has travelled right across the state to speak directly with local community members about their concerns and their interests. These visits, I believe, are very important for local community and local government as well, but also the private sector. It is very important for cabinet ministers to actually have the opportunity to speak to people on the ground, to see the work of our departments out in local regions, to see issues faced by staff—

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire: For years they went nowhere.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: —and to listen to the community. The Hon. Mr Brokenshire is interjecting. I know that's out of order but he says, 'For years they have gone nowhere.' It is because of the fantastic work of the Hon. Geoff Brock, who instigated, with the Premier—

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: —this rota of country cabinet visits. Geoff Brock, that fantastic local member for Frome, has been the one to lead this process, and I for one can heartily say that it has been a fantastic outcome. Ministers—every one of them—are enthusiastic about getting out and fulfilling that pledge to the Independent member for Frome, the Hon. Mr Geoff Brock, who instigated this through his agreement with the Premier, and this country cabinet to Kangaroo Island and the Fleurieu was no different. It was incredibly busy, with lots of business and lots of issues and many in my portfolio that I met with.

When we arrived in Kingscote, the cabinet met with the Kangaroo Island commissioner and the mayor to get an overview of the issues and opportunities that are present on the island. I then adjourned with the Minister for Tourism and the Minister for Planning to visit the old police barracks and cells at Kingscote wharf. This site is the focus of an unsolicited bid proposal from Bickford's to develop a high-end microbrewery and distillery for the island. The company is in final negotiations with the state government to purchase land in the wharf precinct at market value. This development will create an integrated tourism and hospitality facility that will attract visitors, promote the food and wine industries and generate local jobs. The plan includes the establishment of a visitor and function centre and the redevelopment of the old Kingscote police station and nearby land.

Then, I was joined by the Minister for Agriculture to see the work being done on feral cat eradication on the island. Feral cats cause huge problems, both for wildlife and for livestock. This project is currently in the first phase and aims to deliver a systematic and comprehensive trial of a broad range of cat control methods and devices, as well as studying the movements and breeding rates of the cats.

Before leaving the island, I accompanied the Minister for Education on a visit to the Kingscote campus of Kangaroo Island Community Education. Staff from the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources teamed up with local teachers to develop innovative and engaging methods for teaching students about the marine habitat and ecosystems. This program is an excellent example of students getting out into the field and counting, for example, sea lion pups, planting seagrass or making their own short films on topics such as marine waste.

Once we were back on the mainland, I then visited the farm of Mr Alistair Just at Sellicks Hill. Alistair runs a sheep and cattle business on a 1,400 hectare property that includes over 50 kilometres of water courses. The property, Ashley Park, has biodiversity significance, with remnant vegetation and watercourses of the Myponga, Sellicks and coastal catchments flowing through the property. Alastair is an innovative young farmer who wants to improve the productivity of the property as well as the biodiversity values and sustainability of the site. With grant funding from the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges NRM Board, Mr Just began to fence his watercourses off in 2008 to exclude livestock and revegetate parts of the property.

At the same time, he installed stock watering points away from the watercourses and implemented a system of rotational grazing. He is revegetating riparian areas and shelter belts with native species which reduces erosion, improves water quality and brings greater diversity of birds and insects back to the property. Since these changes, Mr Just has seen a reduction of selective grazing of pastures leading to fewer weeds and more perennial pastoral grass. At the same time, he has been able to increase his stocking rates and improve productivity while also seeing a reduction in erosion, better soil health and, as I said, improve water quality. This work has significant commercial benefits for the property, but not just his property: it has a fantastic leadership role in showing other farmers and property owners in the area what they can do with some clever financing through NRM, jointly funded to fence off watercourses.

It improves the health of their property, their watercourses and the ecosystem on their whole property. On a property of this size, it also has significant environmental impacts. Alistair has a range of other initiatives that he is using in addition to the fencing and reveg work to achieve a healthier, more productive farm. These include choosing the right drenches to ensure a healthy dung beetle population, and recycling the nutrients to improve soil biology as well as using grape marc, a by-product from wineries, and composting it to use as supplementary stockfeed. He has told me that he has actually drought-proofed his property by laying in storage of grape marc, which is a by-product, of course, of the winemaking industry.

This is a great example of the critical work that NRM boards in regions are doing with primary producers to create a win for producers and a win for the environment. These sustainable farming initiatives improve productivity, create jobs as farmers produce more, whilst improving soil and water health and habitat. In between these site visits I had numerous one-on-one meetings as well as attending multiple community forums and barbecues. These forums are a great way for members of the community to speak directly to ministers while sharing a cup of tea and a phenomenal country scone, but I have to say that at this country cabinet, more so than at any other, I could hardly get a word in. The member for Mawson, Leon Bignell, was absolutely mobbed by throngs of constituents who were saying that they used to be Liberal voters but no more.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: They were former Liberal voters but no more—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: —with the member for Mawson—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Would the honourable members allow the minister to complete his answer without interjection.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: It is embarrassing to say but the member for Mawson, the Minister for Primary Industries, was probably much more popular than every other cabinet minister put together, except for the Premier. I have to say it was a little embarrassing but also fun to watch the way that the local community responded to the member for Mawson. He is certainly held in very high standing on the southern coast, Kangaroo Island and in the Fleurieu region.

Finally to close, as I said, many important issues were raised with ministers whilst at the forums or at one-on-ones, and I must say the closing question of the community forum, I think it was in Victor Harbor, was asked by a young woman, a school captain from Investigator College, and she impressed me incredibly. She stood up at the end of the forum, as I said, to ask a very important question about sex education in schools. She pointed out that young people are often quite vulnerable, still discovering their sexuality in high school, and sex education in schools is so important to children and it can be very inconsistent across the education system and can, if it is not done properly and not put in place in more schools, really ignore some of the most vulnerable young people in our community.

Her passion was evident and I have to say she had a standing ovation from the hall by getting up at such a young age, with such great confidence, asking quite a serious question of a cabinet. I admire her courage greatly. Her passion for social justice is a credit to her, to her school and to the Victor Harbor community.