Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this bill, the Nature Repair Market Bill 2023. The need to repair and restore our natural environment, particularly in the face of alarming species loss, is upon us. Australia is experiencing high rates of extinction, with countless species teetering on the edge of disappearance at a faster rate than anywhere else on this planet. It is our moral duty and responsibility to take immediate action to protect and restore nature, preserving the incredible biodiversity that sustains our ecosystems and enriches our lives.

The Nature Repair Market Bill provides a sensible framework to assist landholders to facilitate the repair of our lands and waterways, through a market mechanism. Such a mechanism will encourage the committal of land that would otherwise not be offered for this purpose.

I would just like to consider a couple of the issues raised by the member for Parkes. It's fair to say that there is potentially a concern about prime agricultural farmland. About four to six per cent of South Australia is considered prime agricultural farmland. I don't think we want to see that locked away. I think that that's reasonable. We know we are going to have a growing global population, and we want to be able to produce as much food as we can. I do think, though, in many of our electorates, it's actually urban sprawl that's the biggest challenge our farmland faces. We need to make sure that we are limiting urban sprawl. Certainly in my electorate I'm seeing far too many really good hectares carved up and lots of tiny 400 square metre blocks put in their place. The cows are gone, the lucerne's gone and there are wall-to-wall houses. We need to make sure that, when we do development, we need to do it sustainably so that it still keeps our farmland—much like they do in France and most of Europe—and that, when we're looking at urban development, we do it within those urban areas.

We know from experience that market driven systems are an effective way to provide an outcome by financial incentivisation. Allowing diversity certificates, that may also be sold to interested persons in the market, will create an opportunity for landholders to assess the value of their land in terms beyond its agricultural or other working use. It will provide landholders with the opportunity to remove portions of their land for specific environmental projects, with appropriate financial compensation.

I might also say that I do recognise what the member for Parkes was saying with respect to us sharing, right across this parliament and right across our electorates, the burden of reducing our emissions. That shouldn't just be sitting purely with regional Australia. We need to make sure we're all doing our fair share of lifting. I know, in my community, many farmers are concerned about the conversations in here that some people have had with respect to methane, and those conversations have often been from members that I don't think would even have a cow in their electorate. However, I digress.

It is so important that we consider all options to improve the health of ecosystems that are vital for the survival and recovery of species. This bill is just one tool and complements the suite of other environmental legislation that seeks to preserve our natural habitat. This bill will foster a sense of stewardship and promote sustainable practices, and it will inspire individuals and communities to actively participate in the protection of endangered species and their habitats beyond present levels.

Landholders, particularly in the agricultural sector, are proud custodians of their land, despite the many wrongful criticisms of this sector, having engaged in continual land management improvement practices. This has resulted in linear improvements in crop yields, low fertiliser use and the maintenance of soil profiles. I'm confident that this bill will encourage these custodians of the land to look at how they can further improve the land beyond its productive capacity, and I know that within my own electorate I have many landowners who would jump at this opportunity to set aside sections of land for projects that will result in tradeable biodiversity certificates.

One such landholder is a lovely gentleman I know called Richard Lintern. I've spoken about Richard in this place previously. Richard is a generational landholder in Mount Torrens in the Adelaide Hills. His property has been used over the generations for various farming enterprises, including grazing. Richard's property has a unique history. Not only was it used for productive agriculture; it was also home to the locally renowned Boundary Race. The race brought riders and their horses from surrounding areas to battle for the honour of winning the local race, which criss-crossed his property. Riders would race past many historical buildings, which were used for barbecues, tickets, betting and beer service. These buildings and the home straight posts remain as a reminder of the once grand community event. Richard is proud of the history and natural beauty of his property and wants to return a significant portion of that property to native vegetation title, to create a conservation oasis for the many flora and fauna species—such as kangaroos, echidnas and black cockatoos—that are thriving on his property now. In Richard's case, this Nature Repair Bill will provide an opportunity to monetise a great contribution to environmental repair. This is about choice for farmers, and it is about monetisation, which I think is really important and certainly due. I'm sure there will be many others like Richard, and the environment will be a beneficiary. So I support this bill.

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