BHP Water Extraction

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (15:12): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question without notice to the Deputy Premier and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs on the topic of culturally significant sites.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: On Monday 24 November, the ABC reported that there are serious concerns around water extraction by BHP, which extracts more than 33 million litres a day from the basin for its Olympic Dam operations. To quote Arabana ranger Zaaheer McKenzie:

A lot of our springs have got cultural stories to them. We call it Ularaka, which means history time.

If you take some of those springs away or destroy them that sort of breaks that connection to…our stories.

Our springs are connected, and not only that, the biodiversity of that spring…you've got a lot of animals, birds, kangaroos, emus, dingoes, everything drinks at those water points.

Traditional owners say the impact of the high volume of water extraction is causing cultural and ecological damage to the local mound springs. My questions to the Deputy Premier and the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, therefore, are:

1. What action has the government taken in response to the concerns of the Arabana people?

2. Will the government press ahead with this plan despite the fierce opposition of traditional owners?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Deputy Premier, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (15:13): I thank the honourable member for his question; it is certainly an issue that I am aware of. I have spent time around Marree and north of Marree and have visited some of the mound springs on Arabana country over the last couple of years myself. I have heard directly from Arabana on their country about their concerns—the amazing country-scape that has sustained people travelling through some of the most arid parts of the planet for tens of thousands of years.

I am happy to go away and get more information, but I know that there are ambitions to make sure that the water that is extracted in some of that area is reduced. That doesn't fall within my portfolio areas, but I have certainly been involved at times with meetings with other ministers and Arabana traditional owners and leaders, and I am happy to go away and get some more information about what some of the plans are and how that can be done.