Motions

Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (16:43): I move:

That this council—

1. Notes that Whalers Way, located on the southern tip of Eyre Peninsula, is home to a number of threatened, endangered and migratory species including the southern emu wren and southern right whale, as well as the Mallee whipbird;

2. Acknowledges that the Southern Launch Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex poses a significant risk to this protected habitat and the species that depend on it; and

3. Calls on the Malinauskas government to respect the evidence as well as the wishes of community and environmental groups from across the state and to safeguard this nature sanctuary and commit to 'zero extinctions' as a matter of priority.

There are many intractable issues with the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex—enough for many of those in the community to have concluded that it would not go ahead. Yet, here we are: we have seen in the past weeks a federal green light and a state waving it through. While there is some way to go, the Greens will continue to fight alongside those members of the community and the environment sector, and those who care about tourism and the local aquaculture, to stop South Australia putting space in the wrong place.

Whalers Way is the wrong place for space. The land at Whalers Way lies in a conservation zone, with a visitor experience subzone and a state significant vegetation overlay. The impacts on our endangered species and our native vegetation alone should have been enough to stop the Whalers Way declaration in past weeks.

Whalers Way contains a heritage agreement and numerous federal and state-listed endangered fauna and flora species. Perhaps the best known of course, and the best example for this afternoon, is the southern emu wren, which is literally on the brink of extinction. There are fewer than 500 left on Eyre Peninsula. Compare that with the efforts that we see in our world going into saving, say, the Sumatran tiger. There are believed to be fewer than 500 left of those in the world and there is a worldwide effort to stop that looming extinction. We should be seeing a similar effort in South Australia.

Disturbance from human beings is, of course, the greatest threat to the raptor species that call Whalers Way home. We know this because the National Parks and Wildlife Service has released a recovery plan for both the eastern osprey and the white-bellied sea eagle, two important raptor species, and the government should know this. Indeed, it was Minister Close herself who signed off on that.

The question must be asked when we are talking of having a new biodiversity act: what level of species extinction is this state actually prepared to accept? Perversely, Southern Launch has stated in their own words that:

…there would be minimal disturbance to birdlife beyond a 'startled response', where birds left the area during the launch noises but–

apparently—

returned soon afterwards.

That is fanciful. American studies across a wide range of species have demonstrated quite conclusively that birds are detrimentally impacted by noise. It changes their reproductive patterns and it causes them to abandon nests. Our own National Parks and Wildlife Service also recognises this.

The Native Vegetation Council branch has calculated that the SBE payable for the clearance of native vegetation for this project at the overall SEB requirement calculated by Southern Launch for this project currently stands at $915,078.45. That is close to a total of $1 million, and if you add the admin fee it probably does get very close to $1 million. Given the paltry sums that are attached to clearing native vegetation in this state, an assignation of an amount of almost $1 million says a lot about the quality and quantity of the native vegetation on this site. It should be genuinely protected.

The bushfire risk needs to be considered. Whalers Way lies in a high bushfire risk zone with numerous integrated extreme bushfire risk sectors and frequent high winds. We know that there has already been one fire caused by a rocket launch at this site. To put at risk the lives and homes of the nearby residents, as well as the endangered native vegetation and the species that rely on it, is utterly outrageous.

No doubt, like so many others who develop in high bushfire risk areas, the proponents will request permission to undertake further clearance in order to supposedly make the area safe after the inevitable bushfire that will likely be caused. In that case, that would mean vast stretches of old growth mallee forest, some parts of which have never been grazed and have not been burnt since European settlement.

All this when it is glaringly obvious that the best way to keep this area safe would simply be to keep the highly flammable fuels and extremely combustible materials out of the way by situating the complex somewhere else. But, as the developer states:

Initial firefighting capabilities during rocket launch attempts will be augmented by local Country Fire Service (CFS) crews…There will also be a fire truck on site during launches.

I take cold comfort from that particular one. Why should the CFS—local volunteers—be putting their lives at risk to control fires started by a completely unsuitable development activity being run by a for-profit corporation?

The impacts on tourism have not yet been addressed by this state government. Whalers Way would be closed for extended periods of time both sides of their launch events, that is, if those launch events actually occur. With some 36 launches planned annually—and we know often they get cancelled—it would likely result in almost full closure of that area of our state, of what is a beautiful and incredibly valuable part of our state's tourism-based economy.

The impact on the tourist economy in this area has not yet been assessed, as was required to be done in the EIS, but would no doubt be significant, given that the coastline of Whalers Way and Lower Eyre Peninsula has been independently identified as having the highest amenity value of all the coastlines in our state. I refer members to the Tourism South Australia stats, and also their own words, that: Eyre Peninsula is perceived as a hidden gem of South Australia; total overnight expenditure for the year ending December 2023 was $441 million; 2,100 jobs are provided directly by the tourism industry, and total employment impact is 2,900 people.

The loss of these natural assets would be devastating, not only because of the loss of the asset itself but also the loss of regional jobs. There are far more indirect and direct jobs at stake here in tourism and associated industries should this complex go ahead than they would employ, and I ask you: what is the prospective and priority of this state to put a for-profit company before our precious assets and, indeed, our local community and jobs?

I asked a question in this place of the Minister for Climate, Environment and Water about what the water impacts will be, and we have long talked in this place about the fact that Eyre Peninsula and this area is confronting a crisis. Indeed, we know that the Uley Basin is at 'breaking point' and Eyre Peninsula is running out of potable water. We know that we cannot keep extracting from the Uley Basin, and yet it remains unanswered where the water will come from for this proponent's projects, those 36 launches a year.

If you are wondering how on earth we can let a region that is already under significant water pressure for their own ongoing water supply allow an industry proponent to pursue a water-guzzling exercise that is likely to cause bushfires, put in peril our precious species and hurt tourism in the process, then you are not alone. The Greens stand with those such as the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Eyre Peninsula Environmental Protection Alliance, BirdLife, and so many more who will be fighting the decision to put space in the wrong place at Whalers Way. There has to be a better way, and the Greens will continue to raise in this place, and with the community—both locally and I am sure globally—to fight this stupid decision of the state government.

I understand that the state government has put a lot of provisos into its support so far, but so far they have also been prepared to take the word of the proponent—untested quite often—when many in the community and many in the environmental sector have proved time and time again those promises to be flawed, to be half-truths and to be unkeepable.

With that, the Greens call on the Malinauskas government to respect the evidence as well as the wishes of the community and environmental groups from across our state, and when they say that they support our future to actually commit to zero extinctions and to actually commit to finding a solution here that puts space in the right place and protects Whalers Way. With that, I commend the motion.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.