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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-06-23 Daily Xml
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ENDANGERED SPECIES

Mrs GERAGHTY (Torrens) (15:03): My question is to the Minister for Environment and Conservation. What progress is being made regarding threatened or vulnerable species in South Australia with the implementation of the government's No Species Loss Strategy and protected land programs?

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water) (15:03): I thank the member for Torrens for a very important question and I certainly acknowledge her desire to ensure that we preserve all of our native species. The government has made significant progress in implementing the No Species Loss Strategy. Recovery actions have been implemented for around 280 or 59 per cent of the 476 endangered or vulnerable species in South Australia, exceeding the 40 per cent goal of the No Species Loss Strategy.

I am pleased to have been advised that there has been no known species loss in the past decade. A number of threatened species are showing positive signs of recovery as a result of the government's recovery programs.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: I do not think they are interested, Madam Speaker.

An honourable member: I am.

The Hon. P. CAICA: No, you're not.

The Hon. I.F. Evans: That is what Leon was saying earlier in the week!

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: Unlike the buffoons who aren't at risk, the warru is. It is also known as the black-footed rock wallaby.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: It is one of the most endangered mammals, having once been common across the APY lands—

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will sit down until there is some quiet.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, Minister for Health! Minister for Environment.

The Hon. P. CAICA: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The warru was once common across, as I said, the APY lands. The total population is now estimated to be around 150, restricted to only two localities. The Warru Recovery Program is a successful partnership between the Anangu traditional owners, government agencies and scientists, the program including predator control, surveys to find colonies and determine population sizes, research to address key knowledge gaps and a captive breeding program at the Monarto Zoo.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: Madam Speaker, they make it very hard, but I will just plod on. A predator-proof enclosure was recently built in the APY lands to further assist in the recovery of this species. I am pleased that my colleague, the Minister for Youth, was able to release into the 100-hectare enclosure five captive-bred warru in March this year, wasn't it? You did a very good job, thank you. A further release is planned.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: The mainland tammar wallaby—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: Madam Speaker, there is one that will never become extinct—the shrieking parrot of the east. That one is not anywhere near endangered. The mainland tammar wallaby was once thought to be extinct but was reintroduced in South Australia during 2004 following the most amazing discovery of a feral population of wallabies in New Zealand. I think these people here will remember that story back in 2004. Since their reintroduction to the Innes National Park the wallabies have been the focus of an intensive recovery program, including fox baiting, population monitoring and a captive breeding program. A recent survey at the park revealed the tammar wallaby population has more than doubled since 2009.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: Double what we had. The program—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: I do remember the former member for Goyder complaining about that release, thinking it was going to have a devastating impact on the farmers at that time.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: I know you did. You did a really good job. Madam Speaker, this program also contributes to the recovery of a number of other threatened species, including the malleefowl, the western whipbird, the hooded plover, the painted button-quail and the heath goanna.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: They are; they're all over there. The strategic action taken by the government during the extended years of drought has helped save several threatened species of fish from extinction.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: That's just one of them, one of the species, that's right. The Rescue to Recovery program in South Australia's Murray-Darling Basin has been instrumental in preventing the extinction of several native fish species through captive breeding, environmental water allocations, restoration techniques and genetic research. Several populations in the state's South-East—

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: Point of order, Madam Chair: I am concerned the minister's got one of my old briefing notes.

The SPEAKER: I am glad to see there is such passion and interest in what he is saying. It's a bit like listening to the speeches in the Appropriation Bill.

The Hon. P. CAICA: It is nice that the member for Davenport is interested in this. As I say, Madam Speaker, several populations in the state's South-East were also rescued in 2008-09, with fish being placed into captive breeding programs at local schools, before being reintroduced into their natural habitat.

This one will be of interest to the member for Finniss: the Kangaroo Island Threatened Plant Recovery Program. I am sure he has been out planting during these particular days. The program is reinstating large areas of habitat to support the recovery of several threatened plant species in eastern Kangaroo Island. One of the key achievements of this program has been—

Mr Pengilly interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: Well, there have been some very good burning exercises on Kangaroo Island in recent times.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: One of the key achievements of this program has been the development of the annual Kangaroo Island Planting Festival. The last three planting festivals have involved 1,000 volunteers and have resulted in 225,000 seedlings being planted over 100 hectares. Other achievements of the recovery program include the development of successful propagation techniques for threatened plant species, construction of nursery facilities for 130,000 tubestock, collection of seed from 160 local species, and the development of effective restoration techniques using fire and spreading of stored topsoil.

Mr Griffiths interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: Yes, spreading it.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: The progress achieved to date is in no small part due to this government's commitment to conserving our threatened species, which is clearly demonstrated by the amount of land that has been added to the protected area system under Labor governments. Whilst the member for Davenport might have said this could be one of his old briefings, quite simply this could never have been in his briefings—what I am about to say—because it distinguishes between us and them.

The Hon. K.O. Foley interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: What I am about to say. In 1992, Labor introduced the Wilderness Protection Act, and 70,000 hectares of land had been protected by 1993. Yet, in barren contrast, no additions were made throughout eight years of government under the Liberals. More significantly, since March 2002 there have been 49 new parks created under the National Parks and Wildlife Act and the Wilderness Protection Act.

Additions have also been made to existing parks, which have added approximately one million hectares to the protected area system. Once the Nullarbor Plain is declared as a wilderness protection area, the total area of land in South Australia with the highest form of environmental protection will be almost 1.8 million hectares, about 25 times the area covered by this form of protection compared to when Labor came to government in 2002.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: Not one square metre.

An honourable member: You're kidding.

The Hon. P. CAICA: No, not one—not one.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: This government is committed to protecting our state's unique biodiversity and is playing a leading role nationally in this regard, for example, through our collaboration with the Northern Territory government in establishing the world's first transcontinental wildlife corridor—the Trans-Australia Eco-Link—which will stretch 3,500 kilometres from coast to coast when completed. The Rann Labor government wants to ensure that generations of South Australians to come will—

Mr Venning: You wrote and believe this?

The Hon. P. CAICA: —I do, Ivan—be able to enjoy our natural environment.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! There are eight minutes left of question time.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: As I said, 1.8 million hectares under wilderness protection—not one square metre during their time.

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