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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-06-16 Daily Xml
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NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:27): My question is to the Minister for Environment and Conservation. Can he inform the house of any recent government initiatives that are supporting those in the community who help to manage our natural resources?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for Early Childhood Development, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister Assisting the Premier in Cabinet Business and Public Sector Management) (15:27): South Australians are all aware of the environmental challenge that we face. We have the change in climate, the ongoing drought and pressures on our natural resources. If we are to live sustainably, the use of our natural resources in a way that enables future generations also to meet their own needs is one of our greatest challenges. Government plays an important role in this. While we regulate and lead and, hopefully, inspire in some cases, government alone cannot ensure our sustainable future.

Fortunately, we have a proud history of environmental commitment in this state. People of all ages and from all walks of life across South Australia do terrific work for our environment, often in their own time. It is our job as government to support and encourage this, and it is something that Labor governments have always known.

It has been under the stewardship of Labor governments, both federal and state, that the landcare movement as we know it today was nurtured and has flourished. It was in 1989 (20 years ago) that former prime minister Bob Hawke launched the Year of Landcare and established the National Landcare Program to help bridge the gap that had existed between farming and environmentalism.

In South Australia the Year of Landcare was launched at Cobblers Creek by the Hon. Lynn Arnold, with a project involving community volunteers planting trees to help manage soil conservation. Landcare has evolved in many ways since then and has in no small way contributed to the emerging philosophy of land management that aligns environmental outcomes with economic opportunity. That is why it is so important that community engagement principles at the heart of the landcare movement are continued and fostered.

It is accepted that NRM boards have spent considerable time and effort organising and establishing themselves as new entities operating within a new NRM framework that integrated the management of water, land and biodiversity. The traditional ways of interacting with local communities has been disrupted, and this is something that the government is keen to address.

Recently, I was proud to announce that we would provide $631,000 in funding to community-based environmental projects as part of the state's natural resources management program. I think those opposite suggested that somehow we would have trouble spending that in the limited time before the end of the financial year. We were overwhelmed with high quality applications from community groups. We received many applications from across the whole state, and we will be assisting many community groups with their local landcare, coastcare and water care projects. While small in scale, these are projects that make an enormous contribution to the environment. Often they are run by schools, volunteer groups or by dedicated people who just need some assistance to do the work that they are involved in.

Thebarton Senior College will receive $10,000 to assist it to harvest stormwater to water street trees in its area. The Athelstone Uniting Church will use its funding to showcase indigenous plant species and responsible water use in the Athelstone area. More than $8,000 in funding will also—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: And there are so many more—too many to mention. We hope that they kickstart this new engagement with our local community.

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