Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week I took the opportunity to visit Arkaroola, at the very northernmost point of the magnificent Flinders Ranges. It was far from my first visit, as I have camped there numerous times with my family and in the last three years in my capacity as the member for Grey have called to discuss local issues and the tourism industry with the owners, Doug and Marg Spriggs.

For the uninitiated, Arkaroola is one of the most rugged and beautiful mountain landscapes in Australia, situated 700 kilometres north of Adelaide and rising from what would normally be described as a desert plain. In one of nature’s little miracles, at the moment it is in fact a desert garden full of beautiful flowers and staging a staggering recovery of plant and animal species after years of elongated drought. The ruggedness cannot be communicated by words or pictures alone. Really, you have to go and have a look, and I can only recommend that people do just that. Arkaroola is a unique archaeological wonderland and has some of the oldest fossilised life forms on the planet. Because of the upheaval which has thrust up this spectacular mountain range, it provides a viewing peephole into our ancient geological history.

Arkaroola has come to some prominence in the past few years as a point of intersection between the mining industry and the environmental and tourism industries. I am an unashamed supporter of the mining industry. It is currently supporting growth and wealth for many in my district. There is a high likelihood of a spectacular expansion in the industry, generally in South Australia and particularly in the northern portion, notwithstanding moving government policies which threaten to derail some if not many of the mining projects.

But everyone has a threshold. For instance, Australians would never allow sections of Ayers Rock or the Olgas to be mined, or the area around the Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains, or the magnificent Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges. My definite opinion is that neither should we mine in the Arkaroola wilderness sanctuary. It must be realised that, while very rugged, this is a fragile environment in that it has extremely low rainfall and that any physical scars take a very long time to recover. Much of the land is virtually inaccessible, and it is difficult to see how any mining venture could possibly economically construct the infrastructure needed to mine the site.

Marathon Resources has in the recent past held exploration licences for Arkaroola and has published results indicating that a significant uranium deposit may exist in the Mount Gee area. Mount Gee is a quartz crystal mountain and is kilometres from flat ground. As I said earlier, you really have to go there to see just how impossible it would be to access this area. Unfortunately, Marathon has not always displayed best practice and in fact had its licence suspended by the state government for illegal dumping of drilling samples. The state government is currently deciding whether to allow exploration to resume in the area. There may be legal reasons they would be reluctant to ban exploration. I am aware that the state Liberal Party recently said that, while they were not prepared to ban exploration, in government they would set environmental operating standards at a very high level. Presumably that would mean that a surface mining operation would never be likely to receive approval.

While any prohibition would impact on an individual licence holder, it is difficult to see that it would significantly impact on South Australia’s economy. Already the state has 36 per cent of the world’s proven uranium deposits, and there are strong prospects for much more to be found. The nearby Beverley mine, which is only about 20 kilometres from Arkaroola, is evidence of this. It is highly likely that there will be a string of further discoveries in the immediate area, all mined with the ultra low impact in situ acid leaching method and away from the mountain range on the desert flat.

While I know that there are many in the community who believe that we should exploit mineral wealth where it is found, for me Arkaroola is a bridge too far. Now is the time to take the opportunity to set a clear no-go zone and rate Arkaroola as a national monument of the standard of those I have mentioned earlier. There are some things of such value—not just to us, but to future generations—that we should make every effort to preserve them.