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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-10-14 Daily Xml
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Limestone Coast Bushfire Season Launch

The Hon. R.B. MARTIN (15:54): My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development. Will the minister please update the council about the recent Limestone Coast bushfire season launch?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:54): I thank the honourable member for his question. South Australia faces an increasingly complex bushfire environment shaped by climate change, cross-border risks and the interaction of landscapes, industries and communities. The upcoming 2025-26 bushfire season will once again be a challenging time for our agricultural industries.

For these reasons, I was pleased to jointly open the Limestone Coast Bushfire Season 2025 Summit in Mount Gambier with the Minister for Emergency Services, which was recently hosted by the South Australian Forest Products Association. I was particularly grateful to see the new Minister for Emergency Services in attendance after only a few days of becoming minister for that portfolio.

The purpose of the summit was to bring together all key stakeholders from federal, state and local government, emergency services, land managers, industry, First Nations representatives, community leaders and cross-border partners to ensure a shared understanding of bushfire risks, investments and preparations. By working in partnership, we can strengthen coordination, close capability gaps and build a unified approach to protecting lives, property, jobs, biodiversity and the wider landscape.

The Limestone Coast is home to 130,000 hectares of plantation forests and, as one of the state's largest regional employers, the sector is both an economic driver and a critical fire stakeholder. Bushfires are the single biggest risk to the South Australian forest industry, which is, I am advised, worth $3 billion to the South Australian economy and directly and indirectly supports over 18,000 jobs.

The industry has demonstrated national leadership through long-term investment in fire towers, AI-enabled detection technologies and a dedicated firefighting workforce—now the second largest paid firefighting capability in South Australia after the MFS. Together, industry and government have co-invested millions of dollars in fire detection, prevention and response infrastructure.

I am sure members in this place will recall previous updates about the Malinauskas Labor government's investment in a suite of fire towers protecting our forest plantation in the region in conjunction with the forest industry. This collaborative model shows the value of public-private partnerships in building regional resilience.

I was pleased to hear from Tammy Auld, Chair of the South Australian Forest Products Association, on the role that the forest industry plays in fire prevention. I also want to thank Paul Seager, Deputy Chief Officer of the South Australian Country Fire Service, who provided a presentation on the regional bushfire outlook, providing the latest forecasts and climate risk assessments for the 2025-26 season. Early detection is the key element of the Green Triangle Forest Industries' rapid response fire management process, which helps to identify and extinguish any potential fire outbreaks before they become a threat to the wider region.

The summit also covered the importance of regional connectivity and communications technology in enhancing preparedness, detection, response and post-fire recovery efforts. I was pleased to be able to inform the summit of the South Australian government's ongoing commitment to addressing regional connectivity in the Limestone Coast. I provided an update to attendees that the contract to improve regional connectivity with Telstra was signed earlier this year and will deliver 27 new Telstra towers across the region.

I understand the summit was considered so successful that it will now become an annual event. I commend the South Australian Forest Products Association and its chief executive officer, Mr Nathan Paine, on a well-organised event. It is critical that all key stakeholders continue to work together to ensure a coordinated whole-of-government approach that leverages the strength of government, emergency services, industry and community to meet the bushfire challenges of the coming season and beyond.

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