Boundaries proclaimed but public still in dark

Environment Minister Jay Weatherill has proclaimed the boundaries of the State’s Marine Parks without publicly releasing the findings of his community consultation – the Marine Park Pilot Working Groups.

After extending the reporting deadline for the Working Groups, the Minister has now proclaimed the boundaries without ever letting the public know what the results of the community consultation were.

Shadow Environment Minister Michelle Lensink said now that the Marine Park boundaries had been proclaimed, the Environment Minister could declare draconian restrictions on the access of areas covered by the Marine Parks.

“The Minister has proclaimed the boundaries without ever publicly releasing the results of the community consultation,” Ms Lensink said.

“Minister Weatherill has not acted in good faith – he has kept the public in the dark throughout this whole process.

“He wants a pat on the back for reducing the area to be covered by Marine Parks by 2 percent!

“Locking up 44 percent of the State’s waters without ever releasing to the public the consultation which has led to this outcome is not an example of transparent governance.

“The Rann Government continues to keep South Australians in the dark about its plans to lock them out of nearly half of the State’s waters.

“Thousands of South Australians rely on our waters not just for their recreation but also for their livelihoods and the Rann Government now has free reign over what activities it will and won’t allow in nearly half of the State’s waters.”