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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-04-28 Daily Xml
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AQUACULTURE

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (16:26): My question is to the Minister for Urban Development and Planning. With aquaculture being such an important industry for this state, what is being done to cut red tape for producers?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (16:27): I thank the honourable member for his very important question. Aquaculture is an important industry, and it provides jobs and export earnings that contribute to the continued strength—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: I will start again. I think it is important that we note that aquaculture is an important industry, which provides jobs and export earnings that contribute to the continued strength of the South Australian economy. It is also an industry that has a very strong future in our state, and one only has to look at Hagen Stehr's company Cleanseas, and its recent developments in closing the breeding cycle of the southern bluefin tuna. That is a very significant step for aquaculture; it has been done in this state, and I congratulate all those involved. I think it would be fair to say that SARDI Aquaculture and others have made their contributions to the development of the aquaculture industry over many years, and those developments could put this state at the forefront of aquaculture.

That is why I took great pleasure this week in announcing regulations (which I think were tabled in parliament today) which will reduce red tape for aquaculture licence-holders and in turn save them both time and money. Previously, licence-holders had to apply for development approval to move their pens even if they were within an existing aquaculture zone. The changes to the development regulations will remove this cumbersome administrative hurdle, which basically duplicated the assessment process undertaken under the provisions of the Aquaculture Act—you needed approval under the Aquaculture Act and, up until today, you also needed approval under the Development Act.

Aquaculture operators were previously required to apply for approval to move their pens, and then wait until the independent Development Assessment Commission reviewed that application. The sensible changes tabled today (which were actually introduced last Thursday in the Gazette) will allow licensed operators to avoid this burdensome process if their pens are to be relocated, provided they are within the same aquaculture zone.

The changes brought about by the Development Aquaculture Variation regulations 2009 affect aquaculture zones in Eastern Spencer Gulf, Smoky Bay, Lower Eyre Peninsula and Coffin Bay. Aquaculture businesses in these zones already go through a comprehensive application and consultation process when applying for their aquaculture licences. The amendments mean that these businesses now do not have to lodge a development application, which can be costly and time consuming. No public consultation has been removed from this process, I should point out: the changes only streamline the referral application process between government agencies.

Currently there are 315 aquaculture sites in South Australia reporting to Primary Industries and Resources SA. Dozens of new and existing aquaculture businesses are expected to benefit from these changes each year. These changes do not affect the environmental scrutiny of the current licence approval process. A comprehensive environmentally sustainable development assessment is still required for each new and moving site, and the EPA is still required under the Aquaculture Act to approve licence conditions, but these changes will ultimately cut costs and speed up development approvals by up to two to five months for many aquaculture leases across the state.

It is a commonsense initiative that will help reduce costs for the aquaculture industry. These changes are just one of a number of initiatives introduced by the Rann government this year to streamline planning throughout South Australia. Our aim is to make the South Australian planning system more efficient, which will underpin the state's economic development.

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