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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-10-29 Daily Xml
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Parliamentary Committees

Natural Resources Committee: Annual Report 2013-14

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (17:51): I move:

That the annual report 2013-14 of the committee be noted.

The year 2013-14 has again been a busy one for the Natural Resources Committee. The state election in March 2014 saw the dissolution of the previous membership and appointment of new members to the committee. I am pleased to report that there has been some continuity in the membership with three members from the 52nd Parliament Natural Resources Committee remaining: the Hon. Robert Brokenshire MLC, the Hon. John Dawkins MLC, and the member for Ashford, the Hon. Steph Key MP, also returning to her role as Presiding Member, and a very competent presiding member at that.

They have been joined for the 53rd Parliament by the member for Kaurna, Mr Chris Picton MP, and the member for Napier, Mr Jon Gee MP. The member for Flinders, Mr Peter Treloar MP has also replaced the member for Stuart, Mr Dan van Holst Pellekaan MP, who resigned his position on the committee in June 2014 to fill a vacancy on the Economic and Finance Committee. I should also note that I have returned to the committee after a 17 month absence.

I need to thank the previous members of the committee who have variously retired or moved on to new challenges. These include the former member for Torrens, Mrs Robyn Geraghty, the former member for Mount Gambier, Mr Don Pegler, the member for Frome, the Hon. Geoff Brock MP, the member for Little Para, Mr Lee Odenwalder MP, the member for Stuart, Dan van Holst Pellekaan, and the Hon. Russell Wortley, yourself, Mr President. Their collective services to the committee have been invaluable and the committee will miss them. The committee's staff remained unchanged during the reporting period.

Over the reporting period, the committee undertook 14 formal meetings totalling 30 hours and took evidence from 11 witnesses. Fourteen reports were drafted and tabled: the Annual Report for 2012-13; seven reports into the Natural Resources Management levy proposals for 2014-15; the final Eyre Peninsula Water Supply Inquiry report, the 2012-13 Annual Report on the Upper South East Dryland Salinity and Flood Management Act; two reports on bushfire preparedness and prevention; a report on the committee's Whyalla region fact-finding visit; and a report detailing the committee's visit to the Alinytjara Wilurara NRM Board region.

A fact-finding tour was undertaken in 2013-14 to Whyalla and regions. The committee also intends to visit the southern part of the Alinytjara Wilurara NRM region, in particular, the Aboriginal communities of Yalata and Maralinga. However, due to time constraints and unsuitable weather the tour has been postponed at this stage.

I acknowledge the valuable contribution of committee members during 2013-14. I thank all members, both old and new, for the cooperative manner in which all have worked together, and I look forward to the continued spirit of cooperation for the conclusion of this year and into next year. Finally, I thank Patrick Dupont, the executive officer of the committee, and David Trebilcock, the research officer, for their assistance. I commend this report to the house.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (17:55): I rise to support the motion moved by the Hon. Mr Kandelaars and to endorse his remarks about the work of the committee. It is a very good committee and is well chaired by the Hon. Steph Key, and the staff service it very well. I will take a few moments to make particular reference to one of the reports that the Hon. Mr Kandelaars mentioned, namely, the report the committee did into the Whyalla region fact-finding visit on 23-24 October 2013. That report made a number of recommendations in relation to issues regarding properties in close proximity to significant mining operations in the Middleback Ranges.

The concern I have is that that report was passed through the parliament on 26 November and, as members would be aware, ministers and their departments have four months under the Parliamentary Committees Act to respond to such reports of a standing committee. So, the report should have been responded to by 26 March. When the committee met after the election it was some time after 26 March, and nothing had been heard from the minister or the department.

If there had been a difficulty in getting a response then I would have thought that the department might have contacted the committee and explained that there was some issue and delay. However, nothing was heard. Certainly, our presiding member contacted the minister's office and alerted what was then DMITRE to the fact that there was no response. Subsequently, we got a response on 4 July, some further months late.

Recently the members of the mining division of the Department of State Development, which is what has followed on from DMITRE, came and gave evidence to the Natural Resources Committee. I and other members of the committee were concerned with the responses when senior officers were asked about the reasons for the delay. Initially we were told that there were other priorities. They then, to my mind, did not answer satisfactorily about whether they really understood the responsibilities, and once they had been contacted by the presiding member said that they were, yet it still took another three months for the response to come in.

I will not go on, because of the hour of the day, but the other thing that disturbed me was that one of the documents given to us was a document that had gone to the minister, the Hon. Mr Koutsantonis. Whether we were supposed to get this document or not is immaterial. The reality is that we were given it and there were two dot points that I was concerned with.

One was where it said 'DMITRE questions the expertise of the NRC to make recommendations on regulatory matters that are based on limited information and fact.' The other dot point that I and other members of the committee took exception to was, 'In summary, DMITRE questions whether the NRC has gone beyond the scope of the "Functions of the Committee".'

Mr President, I think that, as a former member of parliamentary committees and someone who holds the role of the parliament as paramount, certainly as distinct from the role of government, you would probably have the same indignation that I and many others had. I think it is fair to say, and the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars would agree, that those sentiments were relayed to those officers at our meeting, but it is something that I found quite offensive. With those words, I will say that I enjoy being a member of the Natural Resources Committee, and I commend the motion to the chamber.

Motion carried.


Sitting suspended from 18:01 to 19:45.


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