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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2022-02-10 Daily Xml
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Motions

World Wetlands Day

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (17:35): I move:

That this council—

1. Notes that 2 February 2022 marked World Wetlands Day and that this is now the second World Wetlands Day that has passed since the dieback of the St Kilda mangroves;

2. Notes that the salt and brine still has not been removed more than 12 months on from when the Department for Energy and Mining directed Buckland Dry Creek to do so on 24 December 2020;

3. Calls on the Marshall Liberal government to finally complete and release the investigation report into the St Kilda mangrove poisoning;

4. Calls on the Marshall Liberal government to finally enforce the directions issued by the department and stop the still-leaking toxic brine making its way into the mangroves; and

5. Recognises the need for a positive vision for the salt flats, as well as a time line for site remediation.

This is not the first time I have been here talking about the St Kilda mangroves, but I would hope that it might be the last time because there would be no need to be raising my concerns. There is no way to say this, though, and I wish I did not have to still be talking about this matter, but the reality remains that more than 12 months on the St Kilda mangroves are still a mess, and it is a mess that the government will not even properly acknowledge, to the extent that we have seen the department battling for months to suppress documents and prevent them from being released through the freedom of information processes.

It is absurd, as well, that these documents, when finally released, show what and when the government knew about the deaths of mangroves as a result of waste brine leaking from the moribund salt ponds at St Kilda. The documents also reveal that there was no environmental bond taken from the operator and when the mining leases were recently renewed for 20 years, raising the possibility that the public of South Australia may well be left to foot the bill to clean up this mess.

It is pretty depressing that we have just marked yet another World Wetlands Day. It should be a day for celebration, but in fact it is the second since this disaster has unfolded, yet the situation has seen little improvement.

There is still toxic brine leaking out of the salt pond adjacent to the national park. There is still damage occurring to the mangroves, saltmarsh and samphire and we still have not been given a definitive explanation of what happened. No-one has been called to account, except the poor scientists who have been trying to keep this government honest, only to have their names publicly smeared for doing so.

We must remember that the impacts are not just limited to the area south of St Kilda. The unstable salinity in the northern end of the salt fields continues, which likely has led to the loss of shorebird habitat within those northern ponds and presents a clear danger to fringing mangrove and saltmarsh communities.

I will not repeat my previous comments because I think the realities of the impact on the mangroves from the leaking brine have been well ventilated in this chamber, but I will remind us yet again that rainfall continues to lead to leaking brine, that we still do not have the report on the investigation into the causes of the damage done and that no rehabilitation and repair of the damaged mangroves can take place until the highly toxic brine is removed.

It is deeply frustrating that Buckland Dry Creek and the government appear to have given up on stopping further damage from occurring. It is well past time that we actually enforced the directions issued to remove the salt and brine from leaking ponds. It is time that we have a real conversation about what the future of these salt flats looks like—and properly this time—more than a holding pattern that was meant to only last for a year that has turned out to be almost a decade.

Even the environment minister has stated on ABC radio that salt mining is unlikely to have a place within the future of the St Kilda landscape, so this is an opportunity for us to embrace this opportunity to secure a sustainable future for that site and for our state.

It is critical that we consider what is the planned final land use proposed for that majority Crown-owned prime stretch of real estate, and biodiversity between Dry Creek and Middle Beach, which is in the South Australian public's best interest. What is the end game here? How can we maximise economic outcomes from this land, while also preserving one of South Australia's most significant biodiversity hotspots?

While salt production was obviously considered the most productive use of the land, contributing towards the creation of potash for the manufacture of explosives in an effort to provide military independence after the world wars, times have changed. The global economy, our valuation of various natural resources and our dependence on the Australian production of these chemicals have transformed completely in the intervening generations.

Building on the foundational work of Warren Bonython and Mike Olsen over the 80 years since the salt field was first proposed, our understanding of the economic values of these landscapes to fisheries and water quality has transformed completely. Our economic markets have matured, with the inclusion of representative values on carbon and biodiversity credits, along with green bonds and significant financial valuations for ecotourism, alongside outdoor recreation, such as bird watching, recreational fishing, herpetology and bike riding.

Two-thirds of the salt field crystalliser land is freehold land, owned by the Crown. The development work currently proposed on this area by the leaseholder can just as easily be completed by any other property developer at the behest of the government of South Australia. The funds raised by the development of this crystalliser area could then be used to augment funds provided by the miner to restore and enhance the moribund concentrator ponds, building an accessible, economically self-sustaining, ecological wonderland on the doorstep of our state capital.

This proposal would hire just as many people as the proposal currently being put forward by the leaseholder while ensuring that the state government had enough income generation via carbon and biodiversity credits to mitigate management risks and ensure its long-term survival. This is not a new proposal. This was all planned out by the South Australian government agencies and previous site leaseholders from 2012 to 2014, and with lead scientists and community members engaged and in agreement.

The current situation with the proposal to supposedly restore the site to salt production, by someone who has never built or operated a salt field, when all other commercial salt producers have walked away from the proposal, is a temporary aberration in a long period of strategic planning inaction and action leading towards a common vision of a sustainable and economically beneficial landscape, which will be of benefit to all.

We have to move on. We cannot keep having this conversation around the mangroves go in circles while the salt and brine remain. We have to finally and properly address the situation down at the mangroves. We need a plan, we need remediation and we need to get real about the future of the salt fields. Certainly the Greens are dedicated to a real vision for the future of this area that can be good for the environment, good for people and good for the economy, and we encourage this parliament and any future government to get on board with that.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.

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