Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 12 June 2002 THE SPEAKER (Mr Riebeling) took the Chair at 12 noon, and read prayers. DUNCRAIG HOUSE, SALE Petition Dr Woollard presented the following petition bearing the signatures of 40 persons - To the Honourable the Speaker and members of the Legislative Assembly in Parliament assembled. We, the undersigned request the Parliament to ask the Government to 1. not sell Duncraig House and its surrounding land. Duncraig House is an integral part of the Heathcote Heritage and Parkland Area. It is an important historical site with Point Heathcote being a landing for Captain Stirling in 1827. Duncraig House is a valuable community asset south of the river and should be kept for community use; 2. adhere to the Heathcote Coordinating Agreement between the Minister for Lands and the City of Melville dated 9/01/01. This Agreement, amongst other things, preserves the Heathcote lower land permanently for Parks and Recreation with full public use and access, thus protecting the Swan River foreshore. The Heathcote lowlands are an important Aboriginal Heritage site. Now we ask the Legislative Assembly to note our view in order that the Government reject the sale of Duncraig House and maintain the lower lands as Parks and Recreation with full public use and access. [See petition No 208.] FLORA AND ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES IN SOUTH WEST, CONSERVATION Statement by Minister for the Environment and Heritage DR EDWARDS (Maylands - Minister for the Environment and Heritage) [12.04 pm]: I inform the House about the implementation of a significant new program that will involve a state government department fostering partnerships with local landowners and organisations to conserve threatened flora and ecological communities in the south west. This program will be underpinned by the appointment of full-time flora conservation officers at eight Department of Conservation and Land Management work centres from Geraldton to Esperance. Until now, flora conservation officers have usually been appointed on a contract basis and funded from a variety of sources, including the department’s annual budget, the Commonwealth’s Natural Heritage Trust and income from bio- prospecting licence agreements. Although this has been successful, the State Government believes it is necessary for the State to assume full responsibility and fund the appointments directly through the Department of Conservation and Land Management. This will help ensure continuity in flora conservation activities, particularly through working with local community groups and landowners. It also will provide greater employment security and stability for the officers concerned. The flora conservation officers will be stationed at Geraldton, Jurien, Merredin, Narrogin, Katanning, Albany and Esperance, and in the department’s Swan coastal district, which takes in the Swan coastal plain between Moore River and Singleton, north of Mandurah. The flora conservation officers do, and will, perform a wide range of duties in helping to conserve Western Australia’s biological diversity. Their tasks include fencing off threatened species of plants, controlling weeds affecting threatened species and ecological communities, establishing new populations of threatened species in suitable sites and surveying for new populations of threatened flora. All of these tasks, along with many other actions, are essential in preventing flora extinctions in this State. Through their own efforts and their links with the community, flora conservation officers have been responsible for finding several presumed extinct flora species, including a beard heath - the thick-margined leucopogon. It is significant that members of the community also are assisting in this regard. For example, the dedication of two Kalbarri plant enthusiasts recently led to the rediscovery of a plant species that had not been recorded for almost 130 years. This was a Stachystemon, and the rediscovery will provide a good opportunity for further study of the plant. The dedication and vigilance of members of the community, as well as staff of government agencies, brings to 23 the number of presumed extinct flora rediscovered in Western Australia since 1991. Over this period, a total of 42 species of flora has been removed from the presumed extinct list. In addition to the 23 rediscoveries, there have been eight recent collections of species thought to be extinct found in the WA Herbarium during curatorial works, and a further 11 species found to be incorrectly named during taxonomic investigations, and 11312 [ASSEMBLY - Wednesday, 12 June 2002] which are in fact now considered to be more common species. The number of flora presumed to be extinct in this State now totals 15 species. Many of the State’s threatened species and ecological communities exist only on private and other lands that are not within the conservation reserve system. It is pleasing to note that landowners are showing an increasing keenness to conserve native vegetation, and the Government believes that by appointing specialist flora conservation officers, farmers and others will have better access to the knowledge. INDIGENOUS WESTERN AUSTRALIANS, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS Statement by Minister for Indigenous Affairs MR CARPENTER (Willagee - Minister for Indigenous Affairs) [12.07 pm]: Last Friday I was involved in the signing of a new agreement for a cooperative approach to improve the economic and social conditions of indigenous people in Western Australia. To achieve this goal, the agreement was forged between the Western Australian and federal Governments and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. My federal counterpart, Hon Philip Ruddock, has undertaken to approach his ministerial colleagues and seek their agreement for commonwealth agencies to join Western Australia’s Indigenous Affairs Advisory Committee, which is otherwise known as the IAAC. Currently, the committee comprises heads of key state government agencies and the ATSIC State Council, representing the wider indigenous community of WA, and is chaired by me. The IAAC has issued a communiqué, which notes that changes are needed in the way Governments work together and in partnership with indigenous communities. The parties agreed to develop strategies around seven key areas for action: child development and growth; early school engagement; building on the strength of indigenous community and culture; breaking the cycle of alcohol and substance abuse; functional and resilient families and communities; functional community infrastructure; and family violence and personal safety. The only way to achieve real change in the conditions experienced by the majority of indigenous people is through a whole-of-government approach. Historically, there has been a lack of dialogue between the various state and federal agencies that deal with indigenous people. The communiqué should pave the way for a genuine improvement in the level of cooperation and, more importantly, an improvement in the delivery of services to indigenous people. The signatories to the communiqué were Mr Ruddock, ATSIC State Council Chairperson Ian Trust and I. We all acknowledge that indigenous people will require capacity building to enable them to participate on an equal basis with government in improving their economic and social conditions. All parties agreed to work towards more effective government coordination and partnerships between indigenous people, government and the business community. It was also agreed that there should be a local and regional approach to making improvements, and that benchmarks on and indicators of indigenous disadvantage should be developed. This agreement follows the recently signed statement of commitment between the State Government and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. The Government is committed to a new and just relationship with indigenous people and the empowerment of indigenous communities in controlling and managing their own affairs as a major step towards building healthy, sustainable communities. However, it is important that we have the support of the Commonwealth Government, and that is why this latest agreement is so important. CLUB DEVELOPMENT SCHEME Statement by Minister for Sport and Recreation MR CARPENTER (Willagee - Minister for Sport and Recreation) [12.10 pm]: Last week I was very pleased to have the opportunity to launch an initiative that is of critical importance to sport in Western Australia. The club development scheme, initiated by the State Government through the Department of Sport and Recreation, will help sporting clubs to operate viably for the benefit of their members. As all members would know, it is becoming increasingly difficult to run community sport and recreation clubs. This State Government understands the pressure faced by club administrators, who are largely volunteers. Many take on roles in clubs and organisations without any training, and they are often looking for guidance. Most volunteers who run clubs have plenty of enthusiasm but do not necessarily have the expertise and training required. That is why the Government has committed $1 million over four years to implement the club development scheme. The scheme will provide support to clubs and their volunteers by providing resources, a comprehensive statewide education and training program and online support through the Department of Sport and Recreation’s web site. The scheme will help clubs deliver better quality services to their members and participants,