Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Green Army initiative is both practical environmentalism and an employment training program. I think that it ticks the boxes on both fronts. I will start by talking about practical environmentalism. It is right and proper that we should be concerned with the big issues of our day. We as a nation should move to curtail our CO2 emissions. We should be concerned about our ocean areas and marine parks and, where appropriate, protect areas that need protecting. But it is also appropriate that we concentrate on local issues. In many cases, they are very pressing.

Australia, for instance—and that is the country we are talking about; it is where we live—is overrun with feral animals and pest plants, all introduced. Since settlement in 1788, we have lost over 100 species to extinction and there are over 1,500 under threat at the moment. That is mainly due to loss of habitat but also fire, flood and invasive plants and animals. I will just concentrate on some of those invasive plants and animals for a moment. For instance, rabbits are considered to be a dead and buried issue for the general population; it was something that bothered Australia in the fifties and sixties and we dealt with it with the myxomatosis virus. It was a very successful virus. But, like all populations, the resistance levels grew within that population. Then, about 10 years ago, we got another breather on the rabbits—it was called calicivirus. The regeneration of native shrubbery and other plants was astonishing. We saw plants in the Simpson Desert that we had not seen in certain areas for over 100 years, and that was basically because the rabbits just kept nipping off the shoots as they came up. It is an astonishing thing that a seed could lie there for that long and then bear fruit. We have seen that kind of regeneration, particularly in the arid zones where the calicivirus has been particularly effective. These plants are very susceptible to that type of grazing pressure. But, once again, these animals are becoming resistant and we are looking for the next level of control.

We deal with camels throughout the arid regions. There are over one million camels that we do not need in Australia. There are wild dogs. Now we are talking about something that is debatable as to whether it is native or not. It has been here for about 30,000 years, but it was certainly introduced. It is a species that has crossbred with what we call town camp dogs, which are causing enormous damage throughout the arid regions and are moving down into the agricultural regions of South Australia. Also, I know that south of Canberra, in fact in the ranges, wild dog packs are causing increasing concern. We have had cane toads, foxes, cats, mice. There are a whole plethora of other animals that cause us enormous problems across Australia.

On a vegetative front, there are things like buffel grass. It may be something that Australians in general have not heard about, but as it is moving south from the tropical regions, where it was planted for cattle feed, it has moved into the arid zones of South Australia and is destroying native plants. Buffel grass burns so hot that it can crack rocks. It burns all the other species out. It is a prolific grower. It burns easily and burns the rest of the vegetation away. It burns mulga trees, for instance. There is also bridal creeper, boxthorn and palm trees. I am just thinking about a creek not so far from Port Pirie where I had one of my electorate offices. A landholder had obviously had a homestead on the creek at some stage and had put a palm tree in the garden—and now the creek is infested with them. There are also willows and pine trees. There are a whole range of agricultural pest plants that, through various other arms of government across Australia, we make difficult for landholders to control by restrictions on the tools they can use to do that.

There are a whole plethora of things out there for a green army to do. But the other thing a green army does is provide training. It also provides an opportunity. This program is voluntary and it runs for six months, so it is a genuine work experience and gives practical skill to those who participate in it. It is aimed at the 17 to 24 age group. The skills progression is good in this program, but one of the highest things that I rate in it is the work experience. You can imagine if you were fronting up to a potential employer and he asked to see your CV. You are 21 years old and there is not a mark on it since you left you school. It really is difficult for the employer to give you a go, because they look at it and think, 'This bloke has not been getting out of bed for four years'—that is what they think. They may be completely wrong, of course, but it just makes it so much more difficult. If a person gets an opportunity in something like a green army project, they can say: 'There was six months work. I have an employment record and I have a reference that goes with that employment record.' So it is an opportunity for people to say that they are work-ready and can perform in an open workplace. That will not, in all cases, unlock the door, but it is a chance—and I am all in favour of giving people a chance.

We know that youth unemployment is climbing. The Brotherhood of St Laurence gave us some figures recently. They named Whyalla and Port Lincoln in my electorate as part of the outback. I will not contest their figures, but I do not call Whyalla and Port Lincoln part of the outback. It is in their report, so I presume then that you can include places like Port Pirie and Port Augusta—they are all in my electorate. The Brotherhood of St Laurence tell us that youth unemployment has increased by 67 per cent in the last two years and that it is now running at 15.4 per cent. This is a serious problem and this. So this is what the Green Army initiative is about: the fact that we have a practical environmentalism linked with an employment training program.

I was fortunate enough in the election period to have three programs approved for my electorate. I have one in Port Lincoln, where we will be developing an existing drainage reserve through the town—an open significant linear space for the city, which will enhance a beautiful part of Port Lincoln that has been overrun with weeds. There will be lawn and irrigation installations, trail creation, planting and a new shelter—all good things for kids to get their teeth into. In Crystal Brook, not very far from Port Pirie, there is a project that has been put up by the Bowman Park Management Committee. Bowman Park was one of the original homesteads when South Australia was first surveyed, and it covered a good portion of land. It would be a very valuable property if it were still together now. It was set up in about 1900. The homestead still exists and there is a park around it. A green army project will make the park more suitable for community use. It will improve biodiversity conditions through weed removal, cleaning up the creeks and picnic areas—it is much the same as we hear about the rest of the green army projects around the nation. It will be good. It will provide a great training opportunity, at least for those who participate.

In Port Augusta, there will be a play space redevelopment in conjunction with arid smart plant propagation. I might point out that Port Augusta is the home of the Arid Lands Botanic Garden. For any of you who might pass through Port Augusta at some stage, I can only suggest that you go and have a look at it. What you can do with very little rainfall and Australian plants is actually quite remarkable. They will be developing these play spaces around the city. I have one more project, which perhaps I will finish at a later time.

Debate interrupted.

See this speech in context