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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-10-17 Daily Xml
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BREAKAWAYS CONSERVATION PARK

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (14:36): Will the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation inform the chamber about the recent hand back of the comanaged Breakaways Conservation Park to its traditional owners, the Antakirinja Matuntjara Yankunytjatjara?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:36): I am very pleased that I have another question on comanagement and the Breakaways Conservation Park hand-back to traditional owners and I am very pleased with the honourable member's excellent pronunciation. I might call them AMY.

As the honourable member points out, on 6 August I had the great pleasure of joining with the traditional owners of the Breakaways Conservation Park to participate in a formal handover of this park to the AMY people. This was of course in response to their recent successful native title claim over the area. However, it is important to note that my department has been operating a comanagement agreement over this park with the traditional owners since early 2011 in respect of their special knowledge and cultural attachment to the park.

The Breakaways Conservation Park is a beautiful and unique piece of South Australia. Estimated to be more than 70 million years old, the Breakaways are a group of flat-topped hills, otherwise known as mesas, close to the Stuart Ranges. The geology is actually quite spectacular. Once covered by an inland sea, the park is now home to numerous flora and fauna species including the red kangaroo and the fat-tailed dunnart—a small intriguing marsupial that stores excess fat in its tail to use through the lean months of winter. Interestingly, Mr President, the fat-tailed dunnart also has the ability to enter into a special state of torpor that can last from a few hours to several days. They do this in order to conserve energy during winter.

The Hon. G.E. Gago interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Well, I was resisting any temptation to reflect on the similarities with those present. Of course I would never, never reflect on Mr President's position in this chamber.

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: As the honourable leader of mine said, it could be used as a description for those opposite with their lazy approach to parliament, but I will not go there, sir. They hibernate their own way through the proceedings of this chamber. It is a very cuddly animal, I should say; it has a lot of positive attributes as well. The Breakaways Conservation Park, as I said earlier, is a beautiful place, one that I am told is very popular with tourists during the hours of sunset. They watch the sun highlight the myriad colours—

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire: I've been there.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: The Hon. Mr Brokenshire said that he has been there, and I am very pleased that he has. I hope he was very careful of what aspects he took photographs because they are culturally sensitive, as I said, but they are well signed. It is quite magnificent. The tourists watch the sun highlight the myriad colours—reds, browns and ochre—that the Breakaways possess. To my knowledge no-one has complained to me or my department about their rights to access that wonderful area being impugned because of the hand-back of the Breakaways Conservation Park or because of the joint management that we have undertaken with the AMY community. Of course, the Breakaways were also used as backdrops, I am told, for films such as Mad Max 3 Beyond Thunderdome and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. I have only seen one of those movies. This handover represents a significant development in the management of this special place.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: I will leave that to honourable members to speculate on and perhaps lay a few bets. The comanagement of the park will not only ensure that the quality of the natural environment is enhanced but that its cultural significance is both recognised and protected.

The Antakirinja Matuntjara Yankunytjatjara people have had a long and ancient relationship with this place. Upon my visit I was treated to a tour of the park by the Chair of the Co-Management Board, Mr Ian Crombie. I was pleased to see first-hand some of the sites that attract tourists to the park and have the Dreaming associated with the landmarks explained to me by Mr Crombie. This comanagement agreement and handover will also ensure that the visitors who come to admire the park and learn about its history and the environments will also have a greater opportunity to understand and respect the cultural importance of this land and engage with the traditional owners.

I can advise that a board has been established consisting of four representatives of the Antakirinja and two representatives of the district of Coober Pedy and one from my department. This is not unusual. This is the way that we do these things. The board has held its first meeting, and I can inform the chamber that one of its first roles will be to work with the department to prepare a new management plan for the park. I am certainly looking forward to hearing of its development. Again, this is the normal process for these comanaged sites. It is also worth noting that this is now only the second Aboriginal owned park in South Australia. Whilst it is expected there will be more across our state into the future, many people, including myself, will be looking towards what happens at the Breakaways as evidence for similar proposals elsewhere being fantastic successes.

On behalf of the South Australian government, I wish the board and the traditional owners all the best with their future deliberations as they care for and protect the Breakaways for the future of all South Australians.

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