Motions

Witjira National Park

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (16:35): I move:

That this council requests Her Excellency the Governor to make a proclamation under section 43(4) of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 to vary the proclamation made under sections 28 and 43 of that act on 21 November 1985 constituting, and preserving mining rights in, Witjira National Park, so as to remove all rights of entry, prospecting, exploration or mining pursuant to a mining act (within the meaning of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972) in respect of the following portion of that park: the area enclosed by a line joining the following points of latitude and longitude (GDA2020) consecutively:

then directly to the point of commencement. The spatial descriptions are based on the Geocentric Datum of Australia (GDA2020).

The purpose of this motion is to vary the proclamation of Witjira National Park so as to remove all rights of entry for prospecting, exploration or mining pursuant to a mining act within the meaning of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 in respect of the land referred to as the Dalhousie Springs national heritage area as defined by the GPS coordinates in the notice of motion.

Dalhousie Springs national heritage area in Witjira National Park is both environmentally and culturally significant. As the only permanent water source for 150 kilometres, the springs are a significant refuge for a number of plants and animals. Due to the springs' isolation, many of these plants and animals have evolved into distinct species that are not found anywhere else in the world.

Given the environmental sensitivity of the national heritage area, it has been managed collaboratively by the Department for Environment and Water and the Department for Energy and Mining since 2009 to restrict exploration and mining access. This variation to the proclamation of Witjira National Park will formalise this arrangement to remove mining rights, including exploration, from 50,000 hectares of incredibly significant land in the national heritage area.

Witjira National Park is co-managed with the Wangkangurru and Lower Southern Arrernte and native title holders of the land. The Irrwanyere Aboriginal Corporation represents both of these groups, who support formalising a no-mining policy position due to the density of cultural sites in the Dalhousie Springs national heritage area. The Witjira National Park co-management board were consulted, as required under the co-management agreement. Both Irrwanyere Aboriginal Corporation and the co-management board are supportive of the proposed changes.

The Tri-Star energy company currently have two petroleum exploration licence applications over the Dalhousie Springs area. The boundaries of these applications will be varied once mining has been excluded from the area.

Subject to the resolution of this house, Her Excellency the Governor will be requested to vary the proclamation of Witjira National Park to remove rights of access under South Australian mining legislation from the area, defined as the Dalhousie Springs national heritage area, pursuant to sections 43(2), 43(4), 43(5)(c) and 43(6) of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972. I commend the motion to the house.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (16:37): I rise today, and I will be very brief and say that the opposition will be supporting this motion.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (16:38): I also rise in support of the bill on behalf of the Greens. We welcome the government taking this action, and we take on face value the commitments the government has made in terms of commitments to the environment. Obviously, it is our view that we would prefer to see no mining at all in these areas. That is certainly the position of the Greens. But we do welcome the step that has been taken in this instance and we will be supporting it.

Motion carried.