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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
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Parliamentary Committees

Natural Resources Committee: Natural Resources Northern and Yorke Regional Fact-Finding Visit

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (11:51): I move:

That the 126th report of the committee, entitled Natural Resources Northern and Yorke Regional Fact-Finding Visit, be noted.

On 22 and 23 March this year, the Natural Resources Committee visited the Natural Resources Northern and Yorke region as part of its regular schedule of visits to the state's eight natural resources regions. On the visit with me were fellow committee members: the Hon. Robert Brokenshire MLC, the Hon. John Dawkins MLC, the Hon. John Gazzola MLC and Mr Peter Treloar (member for Flinders). We were very pleased to be assisted by the member for Goyder, who was part of our committee and also part of the organisation for this particular tour.

The committee observed firsthand many interesting projects undertaken with the support of the Natural Resources Northern and Yorke staff and board. We also had the opportunity to meet with a range of local NRM practitioners, landholders and people in the region. Thank you to them for making that time available to us. Amongst the people accompanying the committee on this visit, and providing a comprehensive background and commentary, were: Natural Resources Northern and Yorke Regional Director, Trevor Naismith; Northern and Yorke Natural Resources Management Board Presiding Member, Eric Sommerville; and the DEWNR Operations Coordinator (Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary) Ian Falkenberg.

We also had assistance from the Operations Manager Yorke Peninsula Council, Stephen Goldsworthy; District Manager Yorke Peninsula, Terry Boyce; DEWNR Manager Planning and Programs, Dr Andy Sharp; Ranger Van Teubner; DEWNR Team Leader Yorke District, Max Barr; Copper Coast council mayor, Paul Thomas; Copper Coast council chief executive officer, Peter Harder; Yorke Peninsula Council mayor, Ray Agnew; and Yorke Peninsula CEO, Andrew Cameron. They were all part of this particular field trip of the committee and they gave their time generously to assist and educate the committee.

The committee only visited the peninsula region on this particular trip, because last year the committee visited the NRM region closer to Adelaide as part of the Pinery bushfire fact-finding visit. A number of members in this chamber assisted us on that fact-finding visit. The findings of that visit are contained in the 116th report of the Natural Resources Committee, which I tabled in July 2016.

Over the two days of the trip the committee visited sites along Yorke Peninsula, including parks, campgrounds and local government offices. Throughout the trip, committee members had the opportunity to speak to the many DEWNR regional staff, as well as members and staff of local government and various committees. I am going to leave my contribution there because I think it is important that we hear from the member in the region, the member for Goyder, and any other members before I ask for the report to be noted.

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (11:55): I thank the member for Ashford for the opportunity to speak on this report. I also offer my sincere thanks to the Natural Resources Committee for the opportunity not just to be with you but to host you for the two days, and I enjoyed the trip tremendously. I have very good recollections of the fact that we met initially to talk about the Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary, which was enlightening. For any person who does not know about it, you really do need to know because it is a wonderful area that is part of our state and it is a secret to so many people. We need to respect the 12,000 kilometres that are travelled by these little birds. They finish up in South Australia, and the fact that our little part of the world is where they choose to come to from Siberia is amazing.

I am also grateful that we had the chance to talk about the Walk the Yorke trail. Stephen Goldsworthy from council provided some good details on that. We were next to the monument that respects the sad death of the seven whales that died near Ardrossan a couple of years ago after beaching themselves. We then went to Stansbury and spoke to oyster growers about the concern that their industry has with what is occurring and the need for support to be provided. I have had some additional information just recently and I hope, because of the cost implication, there will be some recognition from government of the need to support the oyster industry to ensure that it remains a viable industry for South Australia.

I recollect that at the Maitland office of the Yorke Peninsula Council we spoke to Mr Ben Wundersitz from the Anna Binna farming operation. Ben is an amazing young man. Anyone who has ever met him can only be impressed with what he has done in the last 10 years when it comes to the growth of their family business. Yes, they do lease a lot of country but, as Ben says, they pay between 3 per cent and 4 per cent of the capital value of that land in the lease payment.

The operation probably crops close to 17,000 acres now. It is very hard to comprehend the size of 17,000 acres, but to work that, with the quality of staff that they employ, is an example of where farming is going in some ways. It concerns me that the smaller operators are going to find it harder. The bigger operators will probably be the future of agriculture, but I have a sincere hope that it remains as farming operations.

In Ben's case, I know that they start seeding on a certain day and they turn the keys off once it is finished, and they start reaping as soon as possible because they have so much to do in a variety of country. He is an example of how to grow agriculture. I know there is a saying on Yorke Peninsula, which I will put in the Hansard: 'If you want to be a good farmer, you're a wannabe Wundy,' so you want to be as good as Bend Wundersitz if you want to be a good farmer.

At Innes National Park, we really did enjoy the opportunity to be shown a bit about the special place that is the park, actually. The park has probably 130,000 visitors per year. All members of the committee—I was grateful they invited me also—were able to stay at the Stenhouse Cottages. I apologise to those in the adjoining cabin. Mr Brokenshire and I shared a cottage and I locked us out of the bathroom in the morning. Others had to be very generous to allow us to use their facilities, so thank you for that.

As part of the evening before, we heard about the rewilding project, about which not a lot is known yet. It is fairly confrontational to some degree. It is a proposal for fencing activities to allow for the control of animals that might choose to attack the native animals and species. This will give a chance for the native animals to breed up again and to get some numbers back. There is a lot more work to occur on that and I know there is a dollar cost associated with it, but it is an exciting project.

I thank the Natural Resources Committee for being in my wonderful part of South Australia. I hope that they took from those two days some really valuable information about the diversification of the economy away from what might have been traditional activities to other activities, which is bringing people to our area, as well as some of the attractions that we have. I think members managed to go to the Minlaton Chocolaterie on the way home and get some rather delicious chocolates, which is another example of what we provide. I thank the committee and I look forward to the passage of the report.

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (11:59): I would like to thank all the members and all the people we met on that particular trip, as well as the staff and the landholders. It was quite an amazing opportunity to be educated and also to learn about the Northern and Yorke area. I thank very much again the member for Goyder for his input into the committee and his hosting of us in his patch in Goyder. I commend the report.

Motion carried.

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