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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-09-09 Daily Xml
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Motions

National Landcare Week

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (11:30): By leave, on behalf of the member for Heysen I move:

That this house:

(a) recognises that 6 to 13 September 2020 is National Landcare Week;

(b) acknowledges the outstanding contribution by volunteers in our local communities who advocate for and enhance our natural environments; and

(c) highlights the importance of local Landcare groups within our communities, acknowledging there are now over 4,000 Australia-wide.

It gives me great honour to move this on your behalf, Mr Speaker, because landcare is something that has been very dear to my heart, too, for a long, long time. Very soon after beginning my farming career, which is 40 years ago now, I began planting trees, almost immediately—unsuccessfully for the most part at first, but I got better at it.

The primary thing I learned was that you need to fence off a grove of trees, otherwise they get eaten by livestock and other things. That was a fairly steep learning curve and, of course, every time we had a failure it put us a year behind. However, we got better at it, and I am quite proud to go and visit some of those early plantings of mine 40 years on because they are really huge and majestic trees. In a lot of ways red gums were my favourites, and they still are a wonderfully iconic Australian tree.

Time moved on, and I was a founding member of the Edillilie Landcare Group in the mid-1990s. By that stage, I was married and had a young family, and was farming in an area that was experiencing some waterlogging and salinity issues. That was pretty much throughout the district, so we came together as a group. The landcare movement was just getting up and running, and it had significant support, a groundswell of support.

There was really a lot of enthusiasm about doing the right thing by the landscape, and there was a prerogative here. As primary producers, we needed the landscape to be sustainable and productive in the long term. That was really what drove us. We did not want to lose any more land to salinity, we did not want to lose any more creek lines or hills to erosion, and that drove us to form the Edillilie Landcare Group.

I remember that at one of our first meetings as a group—and there were 55 of us actually in a broader stream care management plan who came together, and this is pre-Google and pre-Google maps, pre-satellite photos—we all sketched maps of our farms and drew in soil types and watercourses. It was all a bit rough and ready, but what it did was cement in our minds how we could develop a whole-farm plan and a whole-of-district approach to landcare and, in this case, water management.

On the bottom end of Eyre Peninsula, in the district I live and farm in now, we often suffered from wet winters, waterlogged soils and, of course, particularly dry summers, as well as salinity along creek lines and in low-lying areas, so those were the primary issues we needed to address. We were part of a bigger movement, of course. If I could borrow some words from an article talking about Landcare Week, it states:

Landcare means different things to different people.

At its very roots, Landcare is about working together caring for the land to preserve our natural resources and biodiversity for generations to come. Landcare at the individual level is about what role you play in caring for your land to achieve this goal.

The article continues:

Beginning Landcare Week 3-9 August 2020, the 'My Landcare Legacy' campaign will be rolled out nationally, offering Landcarers an opportunity to share what drives their passion for good farming practices and environmental stewardship in their business.

So it really is focused on landowners and primary producers. Of course, we are not the only people involved with landcare. Many people out of the goodness of their hearts give up their time on weekends to go out to chip weeds, plant trees and do fencing, all in the name of a sustainable landscape.

Interestingly, our Edillilie group progressed somewhat from being purely a Landcare group to becoming more of a farming systems group. In hindsight, I think that this was actually a natural progression because we still had landcare, productivity and sustainability at our core, but we were really looking at ways where we could increase our on-farm productivity and, by default, make the business and ultimately the landscape more sustainable. My firm belief is that, for a business to be truly sustainable, it needs to be profitable and vice versa.

It is often said—and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition would remember this saying—that it is hard to be green when you are in the red. It proves to be true. People can only do what they can afford to do. During that time, there was a little bit of government support around. Generally, it was a fifty-fifty arrangement with the landowner, whereby we could fence off creek lines and plant trees and lucerne. In our situation, it was all about increasing water usage during the growing season to decrease the recharge into the groundwater aquifer that in turn caused salinity problems. It sounds complicated; it is not. Problems arise if you do not use all the water that is falling in the landscape.

Over time, our little Landcare group went into recess. We still exist formally. I think that we still run a bank account, have a constitution and all the rest of it. What it needs is people with enthusiasm, of course, and a desire to be involved, but as one Landcare group diminishes, another one pops up somewhere else. I see via a Zoom meeting last night that South Australian Landcare had their AGM. I was not able to attend. I was busy here as it turned out, but I certainly maintain my membership of Landcare South Australia. It is a really nice feeling to be part of a broader group of people with the landscape at heart.

One thing I have noticed in the 40 years that I alluded to earlier is the increase in the number of trees in our landscape. I remember those broad areas of Eyre Peninsula that were initially predominantly mallee. Certainly, there are some heavier wood and bigger timber areas on the southern tip of the peninsula, but there has been a deliberate effort by landowners and the community to enhance those areas. Often there has been reseeding via direct seeding or the replanting of trees.

A couple of the early projects for the Edillilie Landcare Group were to fence off and plant trees on particular saline sites. I see both of those sites regularly still and marvel at what we managed to do at the time. We have created a real buffer against salinity, but we have also created a haven for wildlife, which is kind of nice in a situation where, in many parts of this state, the clearing of natural vegetation was quite extensive. I would say that is probably understating it. In some areas it was almost completely gone but, as I said, what I am noticing is that there are more and more trees in the landscape than there ever were. That brings its own set of challenges, which is probably a discussion for another day: how that feeds into the fuel loads come bushfire season.

All in all, I am going to congratulate the member for Heysen, who is now sitting in the Speaker's chair—and congratulations on that—on bringing this motion. I refer back to paragraph (b) of the motion where he acknowledges the outstanding contribution of volunteers in our local communities. It is almost always volunteers who take it upon themselves to be involved with these things, and I have talked a lot about landowners. At this stage, it does not have to be landowners—it can be community groups that have a love for our natural environment. Also, paragraph (c) of the motion highlights the importance of local Landcare groups within our communities, acknowledging that there are now over 4,000 Australia-wide.

Although Landcare was a particularly good and well-supported movement, there was a time when the number of groups and the number of volunteers did diminish. I am seeing a turnaround in that of late. I see groups popping up—Friends of Parks groups. I see a lot of coastal care groups on Eyre Peninsula, in my part of the world. In fact, the Minister for Environment and I, not too many weeks ago, joined a Coastcare group down at Greenly Beach for a ceremonial tree planting. I actually went back over the weekend and joined in the working bee and spent a couple of hours planting trees.

It was nice to get the Minister for Environment out there. I know of his love of the coastline. We are going to make that particular patch of Eyre Peninsula a better place for it. So congratulations to the member for Heysen on bringing this very important motion to the house, and good luck and well done to all the land carers who are out there.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the deputy leader, I thank the member for Flinders for moving this motion on my behalf and recognise his contribution.

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (11:42): I am delighted to support this motion, initially moved by yourself, and to follow the member for Flinders in speaking about this. I recall when I gave my maiden speech that I spent some time talking about the importance of landholders' dedication to preserving, protecting and, in fact, restoring the land. It is a pleasure to have members on both sides who truly understand that, particularly from the other side of the chamber, who are themselves people who have managed land and understand the importance of preserving the environment intimately.

One of the great treasures of Landcare is that it is able to bring together the expertise of scientists, environmentalists and very experienced landholders along with an enthusiasm that comes with volunteers being unleashed and welcomed to assist in the restoration of land and in the protection of land. Landcare has always been ultimately about action on the ground, not only caring about the environment but demonstrating that through planting, weeding and other activities.

I had the enormous privilege of briefly working with Rick Farley, who was one of the two founders of Landcare Australia. Obviously, Landcare initially started under premier Joan Kirner in Victoria, alongside the head of the Farmers Federation there. When it evolved into a national level organisation, it did so with the brilliant combination of Rick Farley and Phillip Toyne—Rick from the Farmers Federation and Phillip Toyne from the Australian Conservation Foundation—and with the blessing of Bob Hawke, who was the prime minister at the time and who has come to exemplify a leading political figure who seemed to truly understand the importance of the environment, and investing in it, and also encouraging its protection by all Australians.

I was very fortunate to work briefly with Rick Farley, before he died, when he was on the premier's round table on sustainability, a precursor to the current committee that advises the government. He brought with him in that forum all of that sensibility of understanding the need to work closely with community, to bring community along, but also to respect what science is telling us even if it is uncomfortable, even if it is difficult. As hard as that is and remains for the preservation and protection of land, that becomes still more acute and challenging when it comes to the additional impact of climate change.

What these people have taught us, and what the people who are currently involved in Landcare continue to teach us in this place, is the importance of a fundamental respect for the interconnectedness, the interdependency of everything. Humans now are so prevalent within the landscape and so dominant in the landscape that humans must respect how we depend on the environment and also appreciate that the environment now depends on us. We have now so fundamentally altered the landscape that we must remain actively intervening in order to manage the pest species, the overabundant species and to continually repair and restore the land that we have taken so much from.

I would like to conclude by referring to a quote from Bob Hawke. It is a quote that Landcare chose to reproduce when Bob died. It was one that they felt epitomised his dedication to this cause. He states:

The degradation of our environment is not simply a local problem, nor a problem for one state or another, nor for the Commonwealth alone. Rather, the damage being done to our environment is a problem for us all—and not just government—but for of us individually and together.

That to me is the epitome of the spirit of Landcare: individually and together, recognising the importance of the environment for the continual prosperity of primary production and, in fact, for the continued prosperity of us all. I would like to add my thanks to Landcare in South Australia, to all of the volunteers and to people who work with Landcare for the work they are doing every year to make our prosperity more secure.

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Environment and Water.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water) (11:46): Thank you, Mr Speaker. It is a pleasure to be able to stand today to speak to a motion that you have moved. I take this opportunity, as the first time that I have addressed the house since your elevation to the role of Speaker, to congratulate you on that role. I am sure it is a role that you will undertake with dignity and intellect. I trust that you will serve in the office for a considerable period of time.

The motion that is before us today, moved by you, sir, and supported by the member for Flinders in his official moving of the motion, is really recognising not only National Landcare Week but, in particular, the many volunteers who are part of the Landcare movement in South Australia and, more broadly, across the nation of Australia.

We know that government alone cannot do what needs to be done to improve, nurture and revitalise our natural environment and, indeed, to slow and stop the degradation of the natural environment. We know that it is a body of work, an effort, a movement, which requires the involvement of many, many people. And it has to be people on the ground, people connected with the land, people who have a personal passion, maybe a hobby, an interest, or it might form part of their professional expertise, whether that be through land management, farming, food production, fibre production, scientific contributions, ecology and conservation and the like.

There are many people who get involved in Landcare for different reasons. Often, though, people get involved in Landcare because they want to do a small thing to assist, protect and invigorate the natural environment close to the area where they live. In my role as the state's Minister for Environment and Water, I see many, many groups—friends groups, Landcare groups, groups that come under other names and titles—that are getting together and doing their bit within their local community to enhance the environment.

It is often pretty basic stuff. Removing weeds and replanting are activities I have been involved with long before I was involved in politics in South Australia, and it is satisfying work. Sometimes it can be slow and sometimes it can be thankless, but over time, as the member for Flinders discussed eloquently earlier this morning, you can return to those trees that you have planted and see them established in the landscape and contributing to that particular environment. It is incredibly satisfying to be able to see that.

When I go to the Friends of the Lower Field River, that group that I have been involved with in the south of Hallett Cove since 2006, I look at those old, degraded paddocks that we have had stewardship of back in 2006 up to the present day and see little saplings that we planted as just tiny trees in 2006 to 2008, when we did most of our planting. To see them towering above the river today, providing places for birds to nest and for insects and mammals to make their homes in, is incredibly satisfying. You do hope that those small changes that you make at the local level can actually connect together to create landscape-scale environmental change.

That is a big focus of the Marshall Liberal government's approach to conservation in this state: bringing groups together at the local level, such as landcare groups, friends groups, agricultural bureaus and particularly the work of local councils in regional South Australia that have the capacity to mobilise not only volunteers but also resources and planting equipment to get activity happening on the ground. By weaving these various groups together, we have an opportunity to drive forward landscape-scale change, putting together those small patches to create corridors of revegetation that then link into our protective reserve systems and result in areas where our native species of mammals, birds and insects can traverse across the landscape as part of a protected estate.

The protected estate is primarily held by the government in South Australia through our network of wilderness areas, national parks, regional reserves, conservation parks and recreation parks. The vast majority of our land in South Australia has been and always will be owned, in post-European settlement times, by private individuals. Being able to connect with private individuals and work with them to undertake environmental initiatives is how we will really drive landscape-scale change.

Through a movement like Landcare you really do see the opportunity for private individuals to come together to form groups of like-minded people to get support, advice, knowledge and understanding from scientific experts and experts in conservation to put it all together to actually achieve outcomes on the land. We are so grateful as a government, and I am sure I speak for both sides of parliament when I say this, for organisations like the Landcare Association of South Australia, who come together to provide expertise and who are able to support private landowners in undertaking conservation activities.

An initiative that I am greatly proud of is the reinstatement of a very significant amount of funding for heritage agreement conservation in South Australia. Heritage agreements are areas of private land that landowners, usually farmers, agree to set aside to fence off and preserve and/or restore to hand over for habitat for native species.

We have a great network of heritage agreements and heritage landholdings all across the state; in some areas there is more than others. There are particularly good numbers of these on Kangaroo Island, in the Adelaide Hills, in the Murray Mallee part of our state and scattered elsewhere as well, of course. The commitment that these landowners are showing by setting land aside for conservation purposes is really phenomenal, and we think it is worth recognising and celebrating.

By reinvigorating the funding that was available, which had been whittled away to just $3,000 per annum, we have been able to increase that to $3 million over the next couple of years. We are partnering with the Nature Foundation, Trees For Life, Conservation SA, Primary Producers SA and a range of other organisations to deliver this program. We think this will be great.

We think the opportunity for Landcare and friends groups to link in with these private landowners is really substantial. We will see weeding projects undertaken. We will see revegetation projects. We will see creek lines fenced. We will see these heritage areas fenced so that they do not attract overabundant native species, particularly kangaroos, which cause so much pressure and damage to the understorey of our native planting. I am very excited about that program.

I am also excited about the reforms that are created through our Landscape South Australia legislation—with the creation of Green Adelaide in metropolitan Adelaide and the decentralised landscape boards in eight regions around the state, with expert boards consisting of people with local experience, with knowledge and understanding of their particular local and regional environments. They are making a commitment to this landscape-scale restoration.

We have been able to shift some of Adelaide's levy take into the regions, recognising that people from Adelaide benefit from the regions' environments thriving, not only from a food production and fibre production point of view but of course from a recreational point of view and, more important than all that, a resilient, sustainable, natural environment overlaying all that.

These Landscape South Australia reforms legislate for the availability of grants through our Grassroots Grants scheme. That is out for application at the moment. This is an ideal opportunity for Landcare groups to put up their hand and get a little bit of money, which again had been whittled away in previous years. We now have these defined funds administered by landscape boards that Landcare groups can get hold of to advance their work.

To all those involved in Landcare, as Minister for Environment and Water speaking on behalf of the government, we are incredibly grateful for the work that you do. We really could not sustain our natural environment in South Australia without you.

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (11:57): Mr Speaker, I thank you again, as the member for Heysen, for bringing this very important motion to the house. I thank the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, as shadow minister for environment, for her contribution and active involvement in Landcare over a long period of time, and our own Minister for Environment and Water. It is always a pleasure to have him over on Eyre Peninsula; I know he is a regular. As I indicated in my earlier contribution, we took part in a tree planting exercise as part of a Coastal Care group on the Far West Coast of South Australia, and that was very exciting.

It was also great to hear all the good things we are doing as a government to support Landcare and sustainability within the environment. This is a really important motion. Thanks to the dedication of the people in this parliament and also in the broader community who keep the flame of Landcare alive and who recognise in their own way the importance of environmental sustainability and the way it impacts our economic sustainability at the same time.

Motion carried.

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