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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-11-13 Daily Xml
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NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE: UPPER SOUTH EAST DRYLAND SALINITY AND FLOOD MANAGEMENT ACT REPORT 2012-13

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (16:14): I move:

That the report of the committee, on the Upper South East Dryland Salinity and Flood Management Act 2002, 2012-13, be noted.

Members of this chamber will be aware that a bill to extend the life of the Upper South East Dryland Salinity and Flood Management Act—otherwise known as the USE act—was defeated in parliament in late 2012. As a consequence the act has expired. Management of the drainage and flood mitigation infrastructure and associated programs has devolved to the South Eastern Water Conservation and Drainage Board, under the South Eastern Water Conservation and Drainage Act, with the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources retaining an oversight role.

Another bill, the South Eastern Drainage System Operation and Management Bill—or SEDSOM bill—was introduced into parliament in October 2012. This bill would have repealed the South Eastern Water Conservation and Drainage Act and enabled future infrastructure works, including the South-East Flows Restoration Project. However, the SEDSOM bill has yet to be passed by parliament.

The South East Flows Restoration Project includes a controversial new drain connecting the Lower South-East scheme to the Upper South-East scheme to restore natural flows to the Coorong. The drain is opposed by neighbouring landholders, who believe it will exacerbate the existing problems of highly saline and alkaline water entering wetlands.

The member for Mount Gambier, Mr Don Pegler, who is a member of the Natural Resources Committee, proposed amendments to the SEDSOM bill in late 2012 to enable a staged development of the restoration project. These amendments were supported by the House of Assembly but the bill itself was defeated, due mainly to concerns about the proposed route of the new drain. What the defeat of the USE extension bill means for the SEDSOM bill is unclear at the present time, as is the future of the new drain proposed under the restoration project.

The Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources ceased providing quarterly reports to the Natural Resources Committee at the end of 2012, but stated that it would continue to provide informal briefings as and when required. Operation and maintenance of existing drains and floodways will be continued by the Drainage Board, and provisions in the USE act relating to compensation for landholders affected by the construction of the drains and floodways continue until all claims have been settled.

In the meantime the committee has maintained its watching brief over the program, and I am pleased to inform members that, following significant rainfall this winter, fresh water was released into the West Avenue watercourse, filling the Parrakie Wetlands. I do qualify this news with a caution that it was the first significant water in the wetlands in five years, and without regular wetting in the future it is likely the ecology of the wetlands will be compromised.

When the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars MLC noted the 2011-12 Upper South-East report, he said that the committee had formed the view that it was too early to decide whether the Upper South East Dryland Salinity and Flood Management Program was a success. Now that successful watering has finally been made possible for the West Avenue wetlands, I believe there may yet be hope for the program, and it is on this positive note that I note this report of the Natural Resources Committee on the Upper South East Dryland Salinity and Flood Management Act.

I acknowledge the valuable contribution of the committee members during the year: the Presiding Member the Hon. Steph Key MP, and members Mr Geoff Brock MP, Mrs Robyn Geraghty MP, Mr Lee Odenwalder MP, Mr Don Pegler MP, Mr Dan van Holst Pellekaan MP, the Hon. Robert Brokenshire MLC, the Hon. John Dawkins MLC, and the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars MLC, who have all worked well together. I look forward to a continuation of this spirit of cooperation in the coming years. Finally, I would like to thank members of the parliamentary staff for their assistance. I commend this report to the council.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Hon. G.A. Kandelaars): The Hon. John Dawkins.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (16:20): Thank you, Mr Acting President. You would remember, sir, from your service on the Natural Resources Committee, I am sure, some of the evidence that was given to us in relation to the Upper South East Dryland Salinity Flood Management Act and the associated works. I think, sir, you were also on at least one of the trips we did to the South-East to have a look at the extensive nature of works that make up that whole scheme. Over my lifetime, well before I came to this parliament and well before I was a member of the Natural Resources Committee, I think that there has always been some local controversy about the benefits of the various drain schemes in the South-East of this state.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Hon. G.A. Kandelaars): Much controversy.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: Thank you, Mr Acting President: much controversy. It varies not just from region to region but, in many cases, from district to district. The Hon. Mr Ridgway is far better acquainted with many of those issues than anyone else in the chamber.

Overall, I support this report, and I support the words of the Hon. Mr Wortley. It is an overall issue that will never satisfy every resident of the South-East or residents of those particular regions affected. Certainly, we have had in recent times significant amounts of water in the South-East. Only a week ago, I flew by commercial aircraft to Mount Gambier, and it is extraordinary to see how much water is still laying on the ground in the South-East of the state and how green it still is compared with where we are now.

I think that I have made comment before in this house about the fact that, when I went on a trip with fellow agronomy and agricultural college students in the South-East of South Australia in 1975, it was so wet that the great majority of the properties we visited we can get onto only by getting off our bus on the bitumen road and getting onto a tractor and a trailer to get onto those properties. So, we do know that the South-East can get very wet.

I think that the drains, in my general estimation, have overall been of benefit to the South-East, but there are obviously some areas within it where there is great controversy. As the Hon. Mr Wortley said, the committee will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the drains, and that will vary, I think, due to climatic conditions from one year to the next. With those words, I support the motion.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (16:23): I thank the Hon. Mr Dawkins for his contribution. The Hon. Mr Dawkins is a very good contributor to the Natural Resources Committee, and I always look forward to his supporting speeches. I look forward to the council endorsing this report.

Motion carried.

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