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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
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Natural Resources Committee: Regional Report

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (11:26): I move:

That the 108th report of the committee, entitled Regional Report—March 2014 to April 2016, be noted.

This is the Natural Resources Committee's first regional report. This report has been written in response to the Premier's letter of 27 May 2014 outlining his charter for a stronger regional policy. As part of the charter, the Premier made a request to the Natural Resources Committee to convene a meeting in a regional location to provide a forum for regional South Australians to put their views on matters relating to the committee's work. As I outlined in my response to the Premier dated 25 March 2015, committee members enthusiastically supported the proposal for the committee to convene in a regional area. Good idea—although I must say, this has been the practice of the Natural Resources Committee since its conception.

The Natural Resources Committee makes regular visits to regions to meet and consult with regional South Australians as part of its statutory responsibilities to consider natural resources management levies and to visit NRM regions to observe the work done under the guidance of the regional NRM boards and the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR). The committee takes these responsibilities very seriously. Over the course of a four-year parliamentary term, the committee endeavours to visit all eight NRM regions in order to meet with natural resources managers and community members. The eight South Australian NRM regions are the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, the Alinytjara Wilurara, Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, South Australian Arid Lands, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East, and Northern and Yorke.

The larger NRM regions, for example the Alinytjara Wilurara and the South Australian Arid Lands, are especially large and remote. The committee prefers, when time and funds allow, to make multiple visits to different parts of the respective NRM regions to gain more appreciation of NRM issues. The reporting period chosen in the Fifty-Third Parliament, extending from March 2014 to the end of April 2016, has been an especially busy one for the Natural Resources Committee, in part due to the committee's undertaking the inquiry into fracking—unconventional gas extraction—and also its oversight role with regard to the state's eight NRM boards.

Over the reporting period, the committee undertook eight regional fact-finding visits and tabled nine reports relating to its regional NRM responsibilities. During this period, the committee managed to visit six NRM regions at least once each, and members have committed to visit the two remaining NRM regions before the end of the parliamentary term. Much of the information in this report is available in our other committee reports, and all the committee reports are available on the committee's website. Since this regional report was completed in late April, the Natural Resources Committee has devoted a number of meetings and deliberations on the NRM board business plans and levies for 2016-17. These deliberations occurred outside the reporting period for this regional report and will be detailed in subsequent reports.

I would like to thank members, particularly of this house, for the submissions they have made to our committee talking about issues of concern in their area and particularly with regard to the levies. I commend the members of the committee—the member for Napier, the member for Elder, the member for Flinders, the Hon. Robert Brokenshire MLC, the Hon. John Dawkins MLC, and the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars MLC—for their contributions. I would also like to thank the new father, the member for Kaurna, for his work on the committee and congratulate him and Connie on the arrival of Anna Rosina last night.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The Hon. S.W. KEY: We have all worked cooperatively through that period. Finally, I would like to thank the parliamentary staff, Patrick Dupont and Barbara Coddington, for their assistance. I commend this report to the house.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (11:31): I rise to speak to the regional report of the Natural Resources Committee, March 2014 to April 2016. I would like to reiterate that this is a well-travelled committee. I think they could certainly shine a light for other committees on what travel needs to be undertaken throughout the state to fulfil their responsibilities. I commend the work of the Chair and her committee in that they do reach out right across the state. They do not mind co-opting members on trips, as I have been able to go on one or two trips with the committee, and I certainly acknowledge that. It really is an interesting committee and it does a lot of good work.

I am not too excited about the NRM levies, but today I want to concentrate on the regional fact-finding visits. I notice that the committee went to Kangaroo Island and that it has been to Millicent and other parts of the South-East with regard to the unconventional gas inquiry. They have been to the Surat Basin in Queensland, and they have obviously toured through my area and the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin NRM region. Part of their South-East tour went to Robe, and they also went to Moomba in the Cooper Basin looking at unconventional gas with the fracking inquiry late last year.

The one trip I was really keen to go on, and I was invited to go on, was the Pinery fireground, Adelaide Mount Lofty Ranges and Northern and Yorke tour earlier this year, in March. I thank the Chair and the committee for almost adopting me onto the committee for the day.

The Hon. S.W. Key: We loved having you.

Mr PEDERICK: Thank you.

An honourable member: He was a mascot.

Mr PEDERICK: Maybe. It was a good trip. It was sad to see the carnage Pinery had inflicted on so many property owners, especially the guys trying to manage the loose sand properties that you just could not do anything with. On the heavier ground, you could tear occasional strips up through a paddock just to try to slow the drift down, but you could not do anything in the really sandy country.

It is just heartbreaking to see essentially thousands of hectares that were just blowing. We have seen that in recent days with the effects of high winds since that time. I am just hoping that the whole Pinery fireground does get some good ground to get those early crops out of the ground so that we get some cover, and especially that sandy soil that is going to take years, I think, to really get back on its feet.

We saw close calls and how people, just by chance, managed to get a private unit to their house. It was the Angus's place where they just managed to save the house by managing to find a ute that still had a bit of water on the back. The house was already alight and they managed to save it. There are tales of farmers droving stock during the Pinery fires, just trying to get them out of harm's way. It is truly inspirational to see what people do, not just to keep their livelihoods alive, but to look after that precious stock and try to get them into a safe place. It certainly is going to be a challenge for many farmers in that area. They are going to be struggling for a while.

I note the committee also went to the Alinytjara Wilurara NRM region, but I am a bit intrigued with the Premier actually feeling that he had the need to write to this committee to—

The Hon. S.W. Key interjecting:

Mr PEDERICK: I know he wrote to all committees, absolutely, but I am just expressing my support again for the work this committee does throughout the regions. I will read the letter into Hansard.

Dear Ms Key,

Following the State Election of March 2014 an agreement was reached with the Member for Frome to support stable and effective government.

Part of that Agreement includes the Charter for Stronger Regional Policy.

The Charter outlines the importance of regional South Australia to the strength of the State as a whole and its aim is to ensure that appropriate consideration is given to the regions in policy and legislative decision-making.

Accordingly, I am seeking the support of your committee to convene a meeting in a regional area that provides a forum for South Australians residing in that area to put forward their views on matters within your committee's purview.

Our ambition is that, over the course of this Parliament, the combined efforts of the committees lead to a deeper and more widespread appreciation of the matters affecting regional South Australians for all Members, with at least one forum held each year.

Should you have any enquiries about this matter please contact Mr Jadynne Harvey, Principal Adviser, in my office on telephone...

Yours sincerely,

(Signed) Jay Weatherill

Premier

Well, it is nice to write letters to committees, but to my mind this government—and I am not making a reflection on the Natural Resources Committee now—does little in reality to support regional communities. We saw it with it not accepting the $25 million from the diversification fund, and we have seen it in recent times where the Premier tried to defend not spending road funding money in Liberal electorates.

In the electorates of Goyder and Flinders, in both cases $400,000 was lost because $100,000 in each electorate was not put up in regard to these road funding projects—alas. But we see that in the seat of Giles, right next door to the seat of Flinders, an identical costing project was funded.

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

Mr PEDERICK: Yes, funny about that. How does that happen? Why should the electorates of Chaffey and Hammond have to miss out on $25 million just because they are Liberal seats? That is the question I put to the parliament. We have an area, mainly in the seat of Chaffey but some of it goes through my electorate, where the rail is closed throughout the Mallee. The roads will need massive work, including shoulder sealing and overtaking lanes, to protect the safety of the good people of the Mallee and surrounding areas in their travels on these roads.

I think the fact that the government did not accept money for the regions when it was there shows the sheer hypocrisy of the Premier. I think it is absolutely disgraceful that this money has not been accepted. Yet we see, when it suits the Premier, the Treasurer and the rest of the government, they will spend the money in the seat of Giles. I think that, if that road project got money, that is great, but why is it turned back on the burghers of Chaffey, Hammond, Goyder and Flinders? The government will not fund river link projects or road projects, and I think that is politics at its worst.

The Premier does not support regions, which I think are the last shining light in this state (while we are all always in this place, I note the Minister for Agriculture is here today). Agriculture is one of those shining lights. It has its struggles—we have a struggle with dairy at the moment—but agriculture is putting billions into this state and it needs to be recognised for its contribution. I think it brings in around $20 billion.

We need real recognition. We do not need the money that has been ripped out of it over the years, but we need support for the regions as a whole. The Premier cannot write these bland letters, supposedly keeping up his charter with the member for Frome. In fact, I do not think it is worth the paper it is written on.

In closing, I commend the Natural Resources Committee for the work it does around this state. I will have more to say with regard to the natural resources management levy at a later date, but I appreciate the regional tours, especially those I have been able to attend as well.

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (11:41): I also rise to support this report. I am a new member of this particular committee, but I would like to make a few comments on what I have viewed. It is a very thorough committee; it takes its time to deliberate and consider, and is very diligent on the matters that come before it.

I have been privileged to be on two of the committee's trips: I have visited the Pinery fire area and was also part of the Nullabor-Maralinga-Ceduna trip. I think the Pinery fire visit was a real eye-opener, and I highly recommend that all members take the time to go and have a look at this area. The devastation and destruction we viewed when we visited this area was overwhelming. I think most of us would have seen fires to some degree in our time, but what we viewed on that particular day was extraordinary.

I think what was really outstanding, aside from viewing the destruction and devastation caused by this fire, was speaking to locals in Wasleys and the surrounding areas, particularly Mr and Mrs Bubner. We all acknowledge the sad loss of life that occurred on that day, but there are so many stories. In fact, Mrs Bubner faced this situation and was unsure whether she would survive—the sheer heartache of wondering whether you would survive such a horrific fire.

Mr and Mrs Bubner were representative of people in that area, and they really demonstrated to me not just their devastation, sorrow, sadness and grief but also their resilience. The resilience they showed was truly outstanding, and they are certainly deserving of our support. I commend them for taking the time to share their experience and to explain what they view as the path ahead of them.

The other remarkable trip that I took part in was a visit to the Nullabor-Maralinga-Ceduna area. I was able to speak with the local people and experience places that I have never experienced before in my life. The example we saw of local people working together and the comanagement structure that they had in place was outstanding.

I am the Presiding Member of the Public Works Committee and, while at times I might joke that we are a very hardworking committee, the Natural Resources Committee is an extremely hardworking committee. I commend the members for all the work that they and, now that I am a part of that committee, we all do. So as the house is aware, the Public Works Committee did undertake a number of trips last year to the South-East, Eyre Peninsula and the Riverland.

We took time to view and review some projects and speak with local people, as well as meet with mayors and CEs of councils. We spent time gathering their information and collating their issues and concerns, and that has been fed back to the Premier as well, as you would all be aware from what we tabled previously in our annual report. With those few words, I would like to commend the work of the Natural Resources Committee and note the report.

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (11:45): Thank you to all the members for their contributions this morning. I know there are other members who are very supportive of the work that we do, and I thank them for that. The thing I really love about the Natural Resources Committee is the passion and advocacy on the part of all our members, particularly in this chamber but also in the other chamber, both on a regional level and on a local urban level. I think that is one of the things that keeps us all going on the committee—that there is that advocacy and passion for making South Australia a good place.

I understand the comments that the member for Hammond made about his cynicism with regard to the Premier's direction. However, on another committee of which I am the Presiding Member, the Occupational Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Committee, which I have been on a number of times since I first came to parliament, I think it really did give us a boost to go out to the regions rather than being a committee that just stayed and listened to very good witnesses, but the committee actually had a different flavour.

Of course, our first trip was hosted by the member for Schubert, who is one of the members on our committee, and we have continued to do that work. While it may not be as relevant to the Natural Resources Committee because of the responsibilities we have, it did give a bit of a green light to other committees to think, 'We should be doing this, too,' so I think it gets a tick on that basis.

I think it is also important to remember that we have a lot of cooperation from members in this place in particular, so I would really like to thank them and the relevant ministers. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries is here with us today and he has always supported our committee. The Minister for Environment, Water and resources, the Hon. Ian Hunter, has also supported our committee. We have had a number of meetings in camera with those ministers, and this has been the history of our committee going right back to the Hon. Diana Laidlaw, who made it clear that she was very happy to meet with the committees and talk to them about some of the ideas that she had.

We welcome not only the obvious support from members but also shadow ministers and ministers talking to us about some of the things on their agenda that we would want to know about. My view is that committees should be used so that everybody in parliament can feel as if they are their committees and that we come out as much as possible with nonpartisan recommendations that can be used by the community.

I think it is good to go on site visits, but what happens after those site visits? Whether recommendations are taken up is the other challenge. I am certainly keen, as are the other members of the Natural Resources Committee, not only to do good reports, which I think we do but also make sure that we follow up on some of the issues that are of concern to people in South Australia, and to do good as a committee. I commend the report to the house.

Motion carried.

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