National Parks Zoning

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL (15:11): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question about the zoning of national parks of the Minister for Human Services, representing the Minister for Environment and Water.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL: As members are aware, the state government is going through a process of rewriting the planning rule book for South Australia. That project includes the preparation of a new planning and design code to replace 68 individual council development plans. Public consultation for country areas closes next month, and in the metropolitan area and in large regional centres it closes at the end of February. Part of that exercise involves reducing the number of zones and setting out what kind of development is appropriate or inappropriate in each zone.

When it comes to national parks, most people would assume that these are all zoned for conservation, because that is why national parks were created in the first place. However, what the government is now proposing is a whole range of zones for our parks, including zoning some of our most iconic national parks as rural, which is the same zone as adjoining private farm land. That is exactly what is being proposed for parts of Flinders Chase National Park on Kangaroo Island, an iconic park that this month is celebrating its centenary. Similarly, over 80 per cent of outback parks—including parts of the Flinders Ranges, Gammon Ranges National Park and all of the Simpson Desert, Nullabor, Yellabinna and other outback parks—are being zoned as remote areas, which is the same zone used for pastoral leases running sheep and cattle.

My questions of the environment minister are: does the minister support zoning national parks and other protected areas as rural or remote areas so that the same planning criteria apply to parks as to farmland or pastoral leases? Secondly, if the minister is not supportive, what is he doing about it? Will he insist to his colleague the planning minister that all national parks and other protected areas need to be zoned for conservation in recognition of the protection of the environment being the number one priority in those areas?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (15:13): I thank the honourable member for his question. I will take those on notice and bring back a reply from the relevant minister.