West Coast Cabinet

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (15:58): My question is to the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation. Minister, will you update the chamber about the recent country cabinet held in Ceduna?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:58): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. From Sunday 23 November to Tuesday 25 November, South Australian ministers and senior agency leaders were in the state's West Coast for country cabinet, as my leader has just detailed. Country cabinet provides an important opportunity for residents in our regional communities to attend forums and one-on-one meetings with ministers and senior public servants.

This has been the third country cabinet meeting this year, and these important meetings allow the government to engage directly with regional South Australia and to meet locals from all sectors of the community and hear what their priorities and thoughts are. The Far West Coast is an important area for our state's economy. Its diverse scenic beauty ranges from outback wilderness to a pristine coastline, which attracts tourists from around the world.

In addition to an important tourism industry, the district of Ceduna is home to a large agricultural community—primarily, I am told, grain—the gypsum and salt industries and, of course, the very important fishing and oyster industry. Ceduna has been described as having one of the most complex multicultural communities in the country, and the many representatives of multicultural communities are very prominent in the town and the immediate region.

Ceduna also has the highest proportion of Aboriginal people of all local government areas in South Australia, with a population currently standing at around 25 per cent of the population. This is one of the highest percentages in Australia, I understand. A number of Aboriginal communities in adjacent unincorporated areas also rely on the services available in Ceduna and, therefore, use the town as a base for a variety of reasons.

The Aboriginal community then was the focus of my first meeting during this particular trip and, as the Hon. Gail Gago outlined, we were joined by Mayor Suter and minister Bettison for a meeting to discuss service coordination in Ceduna, and also the safety of a very mobile Aboriginal population has become a growing concern in the town. It is imperative that we all work together to help break the cycle of poverty and support a strong and vibrant Ceduna community, and creating and strengthening partnerships between the communities and governments of all levels and Aboriginal organisations will assist us to ensure that nobody is left behind.

To further this, the state government has established a new position of manager of the Ceduna service reform. This new role will be a key role across government agencies to improve service coordination and develop a Ceduna service plan. During my visit to the West Coast I had the opportunity to meet with a number of Aboriginal organisations including the Far West Native Title Group, the Ceduna Aboriginal Corporation, Ceduna Koonibba Aboriginal Health, representatives from the Far West Aboriginal Sports Complex and the Yalata Community Council.

I also conducted a series of one-on-one meetings to discuss diverse issues that included coastal dune rehabilitation for the Ceduna Waters development, coastal and marine protection, water supply and the fishing industry. Cabinet ministers also had the opportunity to talk at length to local government representatives as well as community and business leaders. The Premier, the tourism minister and I also announced that a new 10-year licence will be negotiated with shark cage diving operations. These longer-term licences will provide operators with the security they need to access finance to invest in their business, and they are a great example of ecotourism in our marine parks.

It is expected, I am told, that we could see a doubling of the current contribution of this unique section to the state's economy to $22 billion. In fact, I met with a family from Denmark, a family of four, who travelled from Adelaide to Port Lincoln expressly to go diving with great white sharks. They said it was a fantastic experience, one that they would love to come back for again, and one that they certainly will be telling their friends about back in Denmark and why they should make a beeline for Adelaide and South Australia and particularly Port Lincoln.

So this is an important change which shows that sustainable tourism in our marine parks will bring economic activity to our regional areas. The country cabinet in Ceduna and the Far West Coast was a wonderful opportunity to meet local residents and to experience this beautiful part of our state. I would like to thank the people of Ceduna and the Far West Coast for their very warm welcome and their country hospitality. I hope they found the meetings as interesting and as beneficial as my leader and I certainly did.