Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yellagonga Regional Park is currently one of eight regional parks within the Perth metropolitan region. It is located about 20 kilometres north of Perth City and six kilometres from the Indian Ocean. It is approximately 13 kilometres long and varies in width from one to 1.5 kilometres wide. The park comprises 1,400 hectares and is primarily focused on a wetland system that includes Lake Joondalup, Beenyup and Walluburnup swamps, Lake Goollelal and surrounding lands. It is my view, and that of the Friends of Yellagonga environmental group and others, that Yellagonga park is of not only regional but also national importance. This is particularly because of its natural, historical and recreational standing in a rapidly growing suburban area.

The lakes and wetlands are the main and dominant features of the park. These lakes and wetlands are surface expressions of groundwater which are connected to the Gnangara Mound. As the management plan outlines, there is a wide range of recreational opportunities and facilities available to visitors. As well as the natural features, such as Lake Joondalup and Lake Goollelal, there is also the parkland setting at Neil Hawkins Park. The lakes and wetlands provide research and educational opportunities for better understanding of these wetlands, their ecosystems and groundwater interaction. The Yellagonga Regional Park lies between the cities of Joondalup and Wanneroo and adjoins the city centre of Joondalup, the regional focus of Perth’s north-west corridor.

With regard to the national importance of this area, apart from a wide variety of ecosystems from upland forest, fringing wetland and aquatic vegetation to open water bodies, there is a rich diversity of ecosystems with great conservation value. The wetlands within the park are some of the last remaining freshwater wetland systems on the Swan coastal plain. The vegetation on the upland areas surrounding the wetlands was once jarrah-marri-banksia open forest and tuart-jarrah-marri open forest.

It is also important to note that the wetlands of the park serve as important breeding grounds for local birds and serve as a refuge in the hot Perth summers for a diverse bird population. I understand that some of the species are migratory from equatorial regions. Wetland and upland habitats comprise paperbarks and gum woodland, helping to provide a habitat for a variety of waterbirds and bush birds. Given this level of biodiversity Lake Joondalup is considered of national significance and is listed on the Register of the National Estate.

Yellagonga Regional Park provides significant landscape and amenity value to the region. The park’s landscape provides strong visual connections both within and into surrounding areas. Many of the landscape character types contribute to the overall high visual quality of the park, ranging from mature woodland areas to extensive views of open water, along with its wildlife, to well-maintained areas of grassed parkland.

Within the regional park, Luisini Winery can be seen off Lakeway Drive, adjacent to Lake Goollelal. In 1924, Enzio Luisini, an Italian migrant who had arrived in Western Australia from Umbria in 1908, made his first purchase of 20 acres of land in Wanneroo for the purpose of planting a vineyard. Although Luisini’s primary business was a drapery and supply store in William Street, Perth, he also sold wine to households around town as well as to the workers in the bush. The origins and operation of the winery and its role in the development of Wanneroo are closely tied to the life of the Italian community and their market garden industry between the 1920s and the 1980s. Once of the largest wineries in the Southern Hemisphere, it is now being restored by the National Trust. That project has my great support. There is an application in for federal grants to support that project.

On 6 March we were fortunate enough to have the Hon. Greg Hunt, shadow minister for climate change, environment and water, visit with me and the Friends of Yellagonga. I thank Kevin McLeod, Graham Sinclair and John and Heather Chester for that meeting at Lake Goollelal and the Luisini Winery. It was a great exchange of ideas and a good time to discuss issues facing this exquisite regional park. As a direct result of this visit, and after consultation with the Friends of Yellagonga and the chairman,Will Carstairs, I have proposed that this regional park, due to its significance not just to Western Australia but to all of Australia, be recognised as a national park. Today I have commenced the campaign to make Yellagonga Regional Park a national park, having previously corresponded with the state minister and other stakeholders. I will keep the House advised of progress.