Industry raise "concerns" about portfolio switch

At a forum on Friday, deputy Premier Susan Close "retired" the draft bill which industry had been eagerly awaiting movement on.

Dr Close announced that the "fragile" pastoral rangelands that are managed under the Pastoral Land Management and Conservation Act 1989, will remain as is.

But, the management and responsibility of pastoral lands would be moved into the Climate, Environment and Water Industry profile from Primary Industries.

"I have an ambitious agenda for the environment portfolio including the rangelands," Dr Close said.

"At a previous forum 12-months ago, I heard very clearly that a delay in pastoral assessments had caused a lot of frustration for pastoralists.

"The delays means the rolling over of leases was not happening and the ability for pastoralists to invest was also not happening."

Dr Close also announced an injection of $1-million, over four years, to boost the unit undertaking the assessments.

"I am not interested in doing a draft bill - that is retired," she said.

"I have suggested a biodiversity act in addition to the Pastoral Act and will continue the conversation about that going forward.

"This is certainly not the end of what we might discuss with the pastoral lands."

Livestock SA president Joe Keynes attended the forum and expected the dep Premier to consult "widely" about any potential additions or tweaks to SA's pastoral land legislation.

"It was recognised that the act is old and some elements could need further consultation," he said.

"But there was no firm view on any changes to it at the moment."

Mr Keynes believed some pastoralists could have concerns about parts of the act which could be reviewed by Dr Close.

"There could be some uneasiness about some elements that were discussed at the forum in relation to pastoralism," he said.

"It is very important that pastoralists are seen a contributors to the management of the rangelands."

Mr Keynes was pleased to hear from Dr Close that extensive consultation would be carried out, if any changes or additions to the act were to be put forward.

"Livestock SA will still put forward its thoughts on parts of the legislation that need consideration but that may not translate into changes, just clarification," he said.

Conservation Council SA's executive officer Craig Wilkins thoughts on the act remaining in tact were positive.

Mr Wilkins welcomed the incoming state government's "keen" approach to have a fresh look at the legislation, in particular, a focus on a changing climate.

"We look forward to being involved alongside the pastoral industry, as well as tourism and traditional owners in managing it.

"It is about working out how best to look after the rangelands."

Mr Wilkins zeroed in on the potential introduction of a biodiversity act, saying it had been a long time since a comprehensive review of SA's biodiversity and native vegetation legislation had happened.

"It is essential that any laws and policy in that area, reflects current environmental conditions, stresses and opportunities," he said.

The Council was concerned about the previous government's lack of connection between the landscape, native vegetation and pastoral acts, and hoped Dr Close would address this.

"Rangelands are incredibly important areas for biodiversity and any reviews of legislation needs to consider the unique feature of the areas," Mr Wilkins said.

The Labor government's move to not pursue a revamp of the 33- year-old Pastoral Act came as "no surprise" to Livestock SA Northern representative David Bell.

"It was absolutely predictable that would happen," he said.

"There is disappointment that the new government will not upgrade the act and bring it into the 21^st century."

Mr Bell was concerned that the "dated" legislation would cause further challenges for pastoralists that were also feeling the pinch of rising inflation.

"The costs of pastoralism are high for the lease owner and the current legislation does not support that."

Pastoralists initial hopes from the initial draft bill was to gain greater security and confidence.

"Length of time for leases was something we wanted to see movement on, as well as monitoring systems," Mr Bell said.

"These properties are expensive and if pastoralists want to plan for expansion, we need this government to help with that."

Mr Bell was not convinced that the Climate, Environment and Water Industry portfolio was the "ideal" place for management of the rangelands.

"It is not where the act should be, it should go back to Primary Industries - about 85 per cent of the rangelands is used for pastoral land," he said.

"There will be no benefits of moving it into the environment portfolio."

Mr Bell said pastoralists were "forward thinking" and community minded people, so they were adept at managing pastoral land.

"Regardless of what portfolio it ends up under, we need to get a better monitoring systems and more movement on biosecurity.

Mr Bell hoped that the pastoral unit was bulked up with considerable funding to address a need for technology upgrades.

"Regardless of the portfolio or government, the pastoral unit needs more funding - if that happens, it will be a huge step forward."

Land conservation was also front of mind for Mr Bell.

But he urged the government to be "careful" with how it is aligned with pastoralism.

"There are already many conservationists running pastoral leases and they do it very well.

"If pastoralists have to crosscheck between a biodiversity act and the Pastoral Act, it would create challenges but I am happy to be proven wrong."