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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-05-17 Daily Xml
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Kangaroo Island

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (15:35): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Primary Industries about fabulous Kangaroo Island.

Leave granted.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: As we know, in 2020, bushfires caused devastation on the island and millions of tons of timber had to be felled and stored in dams while Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers awaited a decision on the now ill-fated Smith Bay wharf project. After much procrastination, the Marshall government managed to secure a modest fuel subsidy to assist in the enormous transportation costs of timber off the island. My questions to the minister are:

1. Can the minister provide an update on plans to shift millions of tons of timber from the estates of Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers, and also the dams, and proposals to upgrade facilities at Kingscote wharf?

2. Does the minister have an indication of how much timber remains and how much has so far been removed? If they cannot be removed, will the remaining logs have to be torched?

3. Finally, what measures will be carried out on the koala population once all the remaining plantations owned by Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers are cleared?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:37): I thank the honourable member for his questions. They are all very important matters. The member and I both visited Kangaroo Island prior to the last election—I think it was last year; it may have been the year before at this stage—and saw some of the issues and some of the challenges that were there and, of course, some of the ways that KIPT, as it was known then, was trying to mitigate those issues.

It is true that the devastating 2019-20 Kangaroo Island fires burnt over 17,000 hectares of forestry plantations, most of which were owned by KIPT, and following the non-approval of the proposed Smith Bay seaport, Kiland, as they came to be known, appointed Australian Agricultural Group Investment Management to convert its plantation to agriculture. Certainly, the state government supports all endeavours which benefit our productive enterprises, our regional communities and the environment. PIRSA is leading the Kangaroo Island timber task force, consisting of government agencies and the Kangaroo Island Council, with its main aim being to maximise the economic value of the remaining log resources.

I note that the honourable member referred to much procrastination by the previous government, and sadly that is absolutely true. It was very much too little too late in terms of trying to access subsidies for transport, and what has happened, of course, since is that there have been bushfires in other states, in the Eastern States, and therefore an increase in demand for timber.

I have met with a number of stakeholders and continue to have conversations around what has been done so far and what there are still opportunities to do. In regard to other aspects of the honourable member's question that I don't currently have to hand, I will certainly seek a response and bring it back to the council.

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