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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-05-31 Daily Xml
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THEVENARD PORT FACILITIES

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (15:58): I take this opportunity today to go back to question time this afternoon, where I asked the Minister for Environment about the state government's commitment of $1.5 million to the fish unloading facilities at Thevenard. The minister's statement was:

I am not aware that the government has made a $1.5 million commitment and I am told that the commonwealth may have been looking at some aspects of Thevenard and the use of the port there, but certainly from the state government's perspective I am certainly advised that there has been no commitment from the state government for such a port.

I assume there he is meaning the fish unloading facility that I raised in the question. On Tuesday 28 February 2012 the Hon. Gail Gago in the other place announced via a press release that commercial fishermen, grain handlers and the mining industry stand to benefit from the state government commitment of $1.5 million to a potential new fishing harbour at Thevenard. She goes on to say:

This project is of strategic economic importance for the region. It will enable the fishing and aquaculture industries to operate viably and grow as the mining and grains industries expand.

Admittedly, that funding was contingent on attracting commonwealth funding as well but, on hearing the minister's response today, I decided to take the opportunity to talk about what was not in the budget today and not just about his response, his lack of understanding and his correspondence with other ministers.

In the budget speech today, the Treasurer made no mention whatsoever of the regions. He made no mention whatsoever of aquaculture or the seafood industry. As a regional member, I find that extraordinarily disappointing. Time and time again in this house, particularly on this side of the house, we remind the government of the importance and the vitality of those primary production industries and the importance of their contribution to this state, yet the oversight was glaring again today. I will certainly take the time later this afternoon to wind my way through the budget papers. I have no doubt that there will be further funding cuts to primary industries, probably seafood as well. I should not prejudge what I might find in the budget papers, but my suspicion is certainly that.

I also need to remind the minister and the government of the sense of despair on the Eyre Peninsula, on the Far West Coast, as a result of the sanctuary zone proposal. People are going to hurt from this. People are going to suffer. I understand that the government is offering compensation and will be looking to buy out licences but it will be nowhere near the value of the fishery, and it will hurt many small businesses. The flow-on effects through the regional communities will be felt for a long time.

My personal opinion is that the days of shut-the-gate conservation are long gone; it is a hangover from years gone by. I do not have any dispute with the fact that we do need to manage the environment, but we need to manage it so that it is a productive environment from which we can harvest and reap the rewards. It is from the environment that we gain our sustenance, and shutting the gate on vast areas is no way to maintain that environment.


At 16:02 the house adjourned until Tuesday 12 June 2012 at 11:00.


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