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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-05-22 Daily Xml
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Marine Parks

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (15:02): My question is to the Minister for Regional Development. How will the government respond to job losses arising from the marine park sanctuary zones—job losses that were anticipated in evidence given to the Select Committee on Marine Parks?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (15:02): The ambition of the marine parks scheme for South Australia is not to cost jobs: it is to actually grow jobs in regional South Australia. What we have set up is a world-class system of marine parks—19 marine parks—

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hammond is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —that will permit us to protect our pristine natural environment into the long term, and ensure that we are able to warrant ourselves to the world as a place that protects its beautiful natural environment. Now, there is an opportunity to do this—before the various insults that accumulate—through urban development, runoff from agriculture, fishing, other activities—

Mr Pederick: It's called the fishing industry.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: No, there are many more threats to our marine environment than occur from fishing; that is just one of a number of important threats that occur in relation to our marine environment. One only needs to look at—

Mr Knoll interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —the Gulf St Vincent to realise that the damage that has been done to the marine environment—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —in Gulf St Vincent is something that has accumulated over decades and decades of multiple insults from various sources. The point is to try and actually protect these beautiful pristine areas while they are still capable of protection. That will be in the long-term interest of the economy and jobs in our regions. So, regions will be able to promote themselves to the world as having a pristine environment; people can visit and see the natural environment in its 'undestructed' form. They will also be able to market their seafood—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —as having been grown in marine parks. This opportunity has already been understood by a range of businesses on the West Coast who actually promote themselves as having grown their fish and—

An honourable member: What are they?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Well, Clean Seas, for one. Why do you think they chose—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: And he will be the first. I know Hagen; he will be the first out there marketing himself as having grown his fish in a marine park. That is exactly what will happen in the long term. The problem for those opposite is that they have the most myopic vision of the future of South Australia. They cannot see over the horizon. Over the horizon there will be increasingly large numbers of countries that have actually degraded their natural environments such that when they try to sell food from those environments, people will have grave doubts about the integrity of that food.

Food integrity is one of the great opportunities for this state in the future, so just look over the horizon just a few yards to see what the future looks like, and that is long-term prosperity. The jobs of the future actually reside in protecting and preserving our pristine natural environment. This is not about costing jobs: it is about growing jobs into the future.

The SPEAKER: Before the member for Flinders asks a supplementary, it is my melancholy duty to call the member for Flinders to order. He has otherwise had a record of exemplary behaviour. The member for Heysen has not and is warned a second time. The member for Chaffey is warned a first time and should have been warned many more times. The member for Finniss is warned a first time. And the member for Stuart is not the Speaker's pet, as claimed by the member for Ashford.

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