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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-12-02 Daily Xml
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Natural Resources Committee: Annual Report 2014-15

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (11:13): I move:

That the 107th report of the committee, entitled Annual Report 2014-15, be noted.

The year 2014-15 was another busy one for the Natural Resources Committee. The membership of the Natural Resources Committee has remained unchanged from the previous year, with all members of the First Session of the Fifty-Third Parliament continuing on to the second session. The committee staff, however, has changed since the previous reporting period. Former research officer, Mr David Trebilcock, retired at the end of 2014 and was subsequently replaced by Ms Barbara Coddington. The executive officer, Patrick Dupont, remained unchanged during the reporting period, providing continuity of support to the committee.

Over the reporting period 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015 the committee undertook 23 formal meetings, totalling 62 hours, and took evidence from 77 witnesses. Seven reports were drafted and tabled: the annual report for 2013-14, the Kangaroo Island natural resources management region fact finding visit report, and five reports on natural resources management levy proposals for 2015-16.

The committee has regular responsibilities to consider NRM levies and to visit all the natural resources management regions to observe the work done under the auspices of the regional NRM boards and staff of the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. The committee takes this responsibility very seriously and endeavours to visit all eight NRM regions over the course of the four-year parliamentary term in order to meet on the ground with natural resources managers and community members.

The committee prides itself on arranging and attending regional meetings and fact-finding visits. Hearings are transcribed by Hansard officers who travel with the committee to record proceedings. However, for on-site visits, Hansard is unavailable so the committee does its best to navigate around and compile a record of evidence for inclusion in its reports using information and communications technology (ICT) which includes mobile smartphones, a laptop computer, digital audio recorder and a digital camera.

Unfortunately, at present there are no suitable mobile phones or laptops available to the committee to use when out of the office and this greatly concerns committee members. The issue of appropriate ICT support for committees has been raised a number of times with management, and the committee is optimistic that in the very near future arrangements will be made for committee staff to have access to suitable laptop computers and other ICT resources, which staff require to do their jobs effectively and safely when out of the office.

In addition to its NRM responsibilities, the committee generally aims to undertake an additional inquiry. For the 2014-15 period, the committee had resolved on 17 October 2014 to inquire into aquaculture in South Australia. However, shortly after this, the committee was referred an additional inquiry into unconventional gas (fracking) by the Legislative Council. This was on 19 November 2014 and on the motion of the Hon. M.C. Parnell MLC, as amended by the Hon. T.A. Franks MLC, pursuant to section 16(1)(a) of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991.

Due to overwhelmingly strong interest in the fracking inquiry, the aquaculture inquiry has been delayed temporarily and members are looking forward to getting back to it in 2015-16. The terms of reference for the inquiry into unconventional gas include inquiring into potential risks and impacts in the use of hydraulic fracture stimulation (fracking) to produce gas in the South-East of South Australia and, in particular:

1. the risks of groundwater contamination;

2. the impacts upon landscape;

3. the effectiveness of existing legislation and regulation; and

4. the potential net economic outcomes to the region and the rest of the state.

After the inquiry was advertised on 26 November 2014, more than 175 separate submissions were received and evidence was taken from 32 witnesses at 10 public hearings held in Adelaide and in the South-East of South Australia. Much of the evidence received has been of a high quality and important to the committee's reports in developing recommendations, which are still to come.

In February 2015, the committee made a fact-finding visit to Millicent in the South-East to take evidence from local communities and to visit sites relevant to the inquiry. In total, two fact-finding visits have been undertaken in 2014-15—one to the Kangaroo Island NRM region and one to Millicent—to take evidence as part of the committee's inquiry into fracking and unconventional gas.

I would like to commend the members of the committee—the member for Napier, the member for Kaurna, the member for Flinders, the Hon. Robert Brokenshire MLC, the Hon. John Dawkins MLC and the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars MLC—for their contributions. All members have worked cooperatively throughout the year.

In addition, I would like to thank other members who have been supporting our committee. Particularly, sadly, the late Hon. Bob Such, the former member for Fisher, was always someone who was interested in what we were doing and making suggestions on how we could work more efficiently, and the former member for Davenport, Iain Evans, was also very close to our committee, so we thank him for his contribution.

There are also a number of members who are in the chamber and also in the other place I would like to acknowledge, particularly the member for Bragg, the member for Mount Gambier, the member for Finniss, the member for Chaffey and the member for MacKillop. I thank them for working with us and helping us. I forgot to mention the member for Hammond, but I also thank him.

Particularly in this chamber, everybody has been really helpful to us, understanding that some of the references we get are very difficult. Also, our former members—the member for Stuart and the member for Little Para—have continued to help us on our way, so thank you to them. In the other house, the Hon. Mark Parnell MLC and the Hon. Terry Stephens MLC have also assisted with our committee. I commend this report to the house.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mr Gardner.

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