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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-11-22 Daily Xml
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MARINE PARKS

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (15:08): My question is to the Premier. Why, after 10 years of process and numerous angry public protests, did the government only listen once the shoppies union told them to review their marine parks policy?

The SPEAKER: Point of order. The Minister for Transport.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: Point of order, Madam Speaker. Standing order 97 requires that a question be asked, not that in asking that question you engage in debate or argument. What has just been said by the Leader of the Opposition is plainly, by any standard, argument. It also requires you, if you do wish to explain a question, to do it in factual manner by the leave of the house. There was nothing in the least bit orderly about the question.

Mr Marshall: Was that an instruction or a question?

The SPEAKER: Order! Was that a reflection on the Speaker, that comment?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I do agree with what the Minister for Transport said: that question was somewhat out of order. However, I will let the Premier answer it if he chooses to.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (15:10): Our vision for marine parks in South Australia is to have an international set of marine parks that are of a world-class standard and that do a couple of very important things. First, they protect our unique marine habitat but, critically, they also allow access for commercial and recreational fishers. I personally—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I have been involved in this process at one stage. It was commenced, in fact, by the member for Davenport when he was minister.

The Hon. I.F. Evans: I didn't invent your process, mate.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: In fact, you passed the legislation that embodied the process, so I think you were involved in it to some extent and you actually supported the legislation—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —that embodied the process. In fact, I think there was an earlier father. It was John Howard who actually signed the arrangements that drew on an international covenant that created the process for the establishment of marine parks. The truth is that they have been wandering around the regions trying to scare up a bit of support. I thought there was—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —an important opportunity to bring together the parties, and I did that. The other week—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: No, we actually didn't have a meeting with them. We actually had a meeting with the recreational fishers' association, the commercial fishing association and also the environmental groups. There was a very broad—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I did, regularly—agreement that we did need to hit the reset button. We have already achieved the outer boundaries of 19 marine parks, I think. We have achieved the outer boundaries of the marine parks. There has been some good local work done, but there is no doubt that the parties are a fair way apart. I wanted to take the opportunity of bringing people together. I wanted to take the opportunity to listen to people. I would have thought that's a good thing.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: When I was responsible for this exercise—and I know the minister who is now responsible for the exercise has been involved in detailed discussions the length and breadth of the state with the various interests. I think it is fair to say that this is a very big decision to take, but I can envisage a future where these regional communities will be proud of the fact they have marine parks. They will be proud of them. They will be used as a basis for promoting tourism and there will be commercial fishing interests that will promote their product on the basis that it is farmed inside marine parks.

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