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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-10-16 Daily Xml
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COORONG AND LOWER LAKES

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (15:15): My question is to the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation. Will the minister inform the chamber on how the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources is building stronger relationships and partnerships with the Ngarrindjeri communities of the Coorong and the Lower Lakes?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:15): I thank the honourable member for his very important question and for his ongoing advocacy for the Coorong and the Lower Lakes and, of course, the greater south-east of our state. I have spoken in this place many times about the importance to our state of the Coorong and Lower Lakes as an ecosystem. It is also important to acknowledge that a lot of the work the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources performs in that area would not be as successful as it is if it were not for the input and collaboration of the traditional owners for a significant part of that region, the Ngarrindjeri people.

The Ngarrindjeri were, of course, one of the first Aboriginal peoples of South Australia to interact with European settlers. There is a record of the Ngarrindjeri residing in the area for thousands of years before that first interaction. As a result, the history of that area, both pre-settlement and post-colonial settlement, is rich and quite extensive, and we can thank the Ngarrindjeri for being custodians of that history and sharing that history with us.

The Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources recognises that this history and this cultural knowledge and their culture has much to offer our task in conserving our natural environment but also ensuring its sustainability and productivity into the future. A healthy River Murray and a healthy Coorong are just as important to the Ngarrindjeri as it is to our economy, our state and our prosperity.

Perhaps nowhere else was the full impact of last decade's drought, low flows and heightened salinity experienced more than at the Murray Mouth and in the Coorong, and the Ngarrindjeri were very well aware of that fact. The Ngarrindjeri believe that the health of their people depends on the health of the waters. So, when the drought was at its peak and the water level in the Lower Lakes plummeted and the Coorong's South Lagoon went hypersaline, the Ngarrindjeri community suffered, as did the broader community.

The River Murray Operations Branch of my agency has, of course, had a longstanding relationship with Ngarrindjeri through the Living Murray program. Together, they have worked for many years to achieve improved ecological outcomes in the Lower Lakes, the Coorong and the Murray Mouth icon site, and the Living Murray programs have also provided employment and training opportunities for many Ngarrindjeri people.

In recognition of this relationship, just a few weeks ago it was my great pleasure to participate in a cultural awareness exercise, entitled My Coorong Rules, organised by my department. That might be a reference to some TV program on a commercial site, which I don't watch, of course, Mr President. This was a great opportunity for a number of city-based staff to get out into the regions, meet their colleagues and members of the Ngarrindjeri community at Raukkan and members of the Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority.

Amongst the serious business of catching up on the various projects in the area, we were also treated to a number of informal events, including a historical walking tour of the Raukkan township, which, of course, has plenty of history on show, including the famous church which appears on our $50 notes. It also included a tour of the Teringie wetland and an opportunity to participate in a basket weaving session led by Ms Ellen Trevorrow at Camp Coorong, which I declined to participate in but I did watch with some amusement. Being all thumbs myself, I didn't want my expertise, or lack of, on show.

As many honourable members would know, no visit to the Coorong region is complete without some fantastic Coorong mullet for lunch. Indeed, we treated this exercise as a bit of culture sharing. Whilst the Ngarrindjeri community put on some Coorong mullet and some kangaroo tail for our benefit, members of the DEWNR community who participated, who enjoy some international ancestry, decided to join in and provided us with some lovely Polish dumplings, some fantastic Italian pizza—

The Hon. G.E. Gago interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: It was fantastic—and some other wonderful dishes. I am afraid that I had to restrain myself from eating too much for the remainder of that day to make up for that calorific intake. These sort of activities are a great way not only to engage with out stakeholders as a department but also to establish long-lasting relationships between city-based staff and those in the regions. It has been my experience that the really best outcomes come when government develops really long-lasting and good relationships with individuals and local communities. Those personal relationships deliver a lot more value to government and to the local communities when we actually spend time getting to know each other, listening to each other's issues and trying to work together in a collaborative way. I have seen that time and time again in my position and I really value it. I think my department values it highly as well.

I also had the opportunity to visit one of the sites of our Ruppia Translocation Project, a project I have spoken about in this place before, where important revegetation of the Coorong seagrass stocks is taking place. The Ngarrindjeri have been part of this, just like so many other projects in the region. Around 12 Ngarrindjeri are working on the Ruppia Translocation Project, and I am pleased to advise that the project is now reporting early signs of success, the seeds planted earlier this year having now germinated, and an estimated 12 million shoots of ruppia are now growing across the Coorong.

Having the plants grow is the first important step. We need good flows of water down the River Murray over summer, but the early signs are quite encouraging. Not only do we need the flows, we need the level of the Coorong to be maintained as well so that the plants set seed and replenish the seed bank. My Coorong Rules and the Ruppia Translocation Project are great examples of different communities coming together for the betterment of our environment, sharing knowledge, sharing culture and working together for success, and I congratulate the team and the Ngarrindjeri community for that wonderful day.

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