Pastoral Land Management and Conservation (Use of Pastoral Land) Amendment Bill
Thursday 30 November 2023
Ms CLANCY (Elder) (15:51): I rise today in support of the Pastoral Land Management and Conservation (Use of Pastoral Land) Amendment Bill 2023. This bill seeks to deliver on yet another election commitment that we took to the people of South Australia in 2022, this time to confirm that pastoral leases can be used for carbon farming and conservation.
The bill seeks to amend the objects of the Pastoral Land Management and Conservation Act 1989 to confirm that pastoral leases can be used for conservation and carbon farming. Carbon farming refers to the management of land or agriculture, which maximises the amount of carbon stored and minimises the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, playing an important role in global efforts to address climate change, land degradation, food insecurity and the rising threat of extinction.
Should the bill be passed, the minister responsible for the Pastoral Land Management and Conservation Act would be allowed to adjust the definition of carbon farming activities as carbon farming markets evolve. As the Deputy Premier has already advised, our government would consult on any proposed changes to this definition, which would happen through regulation.
The bill also seeks to preserve the role of the Pastoral Board of South Australia in relation to the approval of non-pastoral uses of pastoral land and formally recognises past decisions of the Pastoral Board approving the use of some or all of a pastoral lease for non-pastoral purposes. Successful passage of the bill would clarify that land assessments would consider the purposes for which the land is being used for all leases and clarify the required qualifications of potential Pastoral Board members nominated by the Conservation Council of South Australia.
The current threats to global biodiversity could be soon, if not already, classified as a crisis. Australia has the highest mammal extinction rate in the world. Around 12 per cent of our own native species in South Australia are threatened with extinction. The most recent available data published by the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in their Global Assessment Report suggest that as many as one million species worldwide are threatened with extinction. That is more than 40 per cent of amphibian species, almost a third of reef-formal coral, more than a third of all marine mammals and as much as 10 per cent of insect species.
We know that human activity is the largest contributor to species decline. In fact, human actions are said to have significantly altered as much as three-quarters of the land-based environment and two-thirds of the marine environment. Even if for a moment we put aside the moral obligations of sharing this planet with the other species that call it home, we have an obligation to future generations to immediately work to address this crisis. Threats to biodiversity also threaten global food production and exacerbate the impacts of climate change.
While governments, businesses and communities are slowly beginning to focus on the threat posed by climate change, we must also understand and work to reverse this alarming trend of biodiversity loss if we ever want our children to inherit a sustainable environment. South Australia rightfully has a proud history of protecting our environment. Previous state Labor governments were responsible for the greatest growth in national parks and the creation of statewide systems of wilderness protection areas and marine parks. We have a really strong system of protection of our important biodiversity, but there is more work to be done and we must continue to encourage other jurisdictions to protect biodiversity and immediately begin to address these threats.
The Malinauskas Labor government is taking biodiversity protection and restoration incredibly seriously. Recently, in one month alone we saw more than $1 million in Green Adelaide Grassroot Grants be awarded and the announcement of more than $2.2 million in funding to reduce the threat of invasive buffel grass and its destructive effect on remote landscapes and communities. Our most recent state budget included $27.1 million in investments to protect and preserve our state's unique natural environment and biodiversity. This investment includes establishing BioData SA, which will overhaul the data held by the state and guide decision-making on protection and restoration programs.
The bill before us today continues our government's work and begins to deliver on our plan to support landholders to protect nature. In November last year experienced pastoralists, land managers and conservationists were among nine new appointees to South Australia's Pastoral Board. Delivering on another state election commitment, the Pastoral Board now reports to the Minister for Climate, Environment and Water, with an additional $1 million in funding over four years to be administered by the Pastoral Unit to support timely land condition assessments.
The Pastoral Land Management and Conservation Act 1989 covers more than 40 per cent of South Australia's land area, including 323 leases comprising 219 stations over an area of 40 million hectares. With approval of the Pastoral Board, 21 of these existing pastoral leases are wholly used for conservation and five are used for carbon farming. However, in recent years legal uncertainty has arisen about the board's ability to approve non-pastoral uses.
Successful passage of this bill would confirm the Pastoral Board's ability to approve a range of uses of pastoral leases. It would empower Aboriginal people, regional communities and other lessees to manage pastoral lands in a variety of ways. These changes confirm that significant environmental benefit offsets and heritage arrangements under the Native Vegetation Act 1991 can be implemented on pastoral leases—tools which provide leaseholders with opportunities to receive funding for conservation activities on their lease.
The Pastoral Board's powers in relation to the management of pastoral lands and current leases will not change. All leaseholders will still need to actively manage their leases, which remain subject to the obligations of the Pastoral Land Management and Conservation Act. Any new request to change the use of a pastoral lease will be considered by the Pastoral Board on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with the act and the Pastoral Board's revised guidelines.
When the Pastoral Board approves a change in use of lease, that change will remain in force unless the lessee seeks further change. Pastoral stakeholders have been reassured that all pastoral leases, regardless of whether primary use is pastoral or conservation, will still require assessment and active management to consider broader impacts across the pastoral zone.
In closing, I would like to thank the range of organisations with a close interest in pastoral land management who helped inform this bill through consultation, particularly the Conservation Council SA, SA Nature Alliance, SA Native Title Services, First Nations of SA, and the Nature Conservation Society of South Australia.
Thank you also to the Pastoral Board, Primary Producers SA and Livestock SA, who coordinated further discussions with pastoralists. All your contributions are appreciated and play an integral role in bringing comprehensive reform and legislation to this place. I also want to thank the Deputy Premier and Minister for Climate, Environment and Water and her team for their efforts in bringing this bill before us and their ongoing leadership in continuing South Australian Labor's proud legacy of fighting for our environment.
We are proud of our legacy, but there is always more work to be done. We must continue to do everything we can in this place and call on other jurisdictions to immediately work to address the ongoing impact of climate change and threats to biodiversity, not just for ourselves but for the next generation. I commend this bill to the house.
