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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-04-08 Daily Xml
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MARINE PARKS

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (15:10): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Environment and Conservation a question about marine parks.

Leave granted.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Last Tuesday I asked the minister a question about consultation with coastal communities about our marine parks. I thank the minister for her detailed answer in regard to consultation with communities in the South-East of the state, but many other communities around the state are affected by this implementation process. Will the minister now update the chamber on the progress of community and stakeholder engagement across the state with the implementation of marine parks in South Australia?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister Assisting the Minister for Health) (15:10): I thank the honourable member for his detailed and ongoing interest in this very important—

The Hon. R.D. Lawson interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Lawson will cease to interject.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: —policy area, and I look forward to the opportunity to elaborate on the extensive consultation that is taking place. The state government's commitment to implement 19 marine parks in South Australian waters has been demonstrated in numerous ways. Last year, I introduced into parliament the Marine Parks Bill and I was pleased to announce that it passed both houses of parliament in November 2007. This bill will secure our precious marine environment while at the same time retain security for user groups including tourism operators, and commercial and recreational fishers. Importantly, this government's commitment to getting the process of developing marine parks right is clearly demonstrated through our efforts with community and interest group engagement.

We are working with the community interest groups every step of the way and I have established a displaced effort working group. This group is made up of representatives from key sectors within South Australia's seafood industry as well as key government agencies. The group which reports to me met last month for the third time. It is working well and we will continue to ensure that I am advised on policy processes and mechanisms for managing the effects of any displaced commercial fishing and/or aquaculture effort as a direct result of marine parks development. I congratulate this group on their efforts to date. They have been very diligent in their work.

I am pleased to update the council that community engagement is also progressing well. Over the past few months a series of community engagement sessions has been held through the Yorke Peninsula, the South-East and the Eyre Peninsula regions. More than 2,000 people have attended these sessions to learn more about marine parks and how they can get involved. These sessions are as much a learning process for the community as they are for government. We are learning about how members of the community use the marine environment and how these uses can continue with marine parks wherever possible.

South Australia is behind other states in establishing marine parks. We have taken a novel approach by implementing a pilot program for the Encounter Marine Park to make sure that we get the process right. This pilot included extensive community consultation to gather the public's thoughts on a draft zoning concept—the Encounter Marine Park Draft Zoning Plan. More than 400 people took time to write to us with comments and suggested improvements, and I thank them for their contribution, interest and efforts. Copies of every single submission received have been on public display at the Department for Environment and Heritage's offices on Kangaroo Island, at Victor Harbor and in the Adelaide office at Keswick.

I have been pleased to play an active role in community and interest group engagement. In January I visited Lower Eyre Peninsula and last month I visited the Lower South-East to hear views of key fishing representatives, local councils and conservation groups on marine parks. These visits have played an important role in information gathering and collaboration for the creation of marine parks. It has also been an opportunity to dispel myths surrounding marine parks, in particular in relation to the sanctuary zones which would be a minor component of each marine park, as I have said before. I was able to assure people that, once sanctuary zones were in place in a marine park, they would still be able to sail their boats through these zones without a permit; they just would not be able to fish. This is important for such popular sailing journeys as that from Robe to Adelaide which might require people to pass through a marine park sanctuary zone.

Community engagement will be ongoing for this project and will continue to drive the process as it develops. I encourage all members of the community to contact DEH to find out more about marine parks and learn where along the process they can become involved, and there are several steps where people can be involved.

The next formal step in the marine parks process is the development and release of the 19 marine parks out of boundaries for public comment, which I expect to occur later this year. This will be followed by a minimum six-week consultation period, during which interested parties will be able to attend public information sessions and provide input directly in to the process.

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