LAKE INNES
Mr PETER BESSELING (Port Macquarie) [2.01 p.m.]: The Port Macquarie electorate is known far and wide for its wonderful climate, its friendly locals, its pristine beaches and its picturesque hinterland. But away from the popular tourist destinations often are natural gems that otherwise are hidden to all but a few adventurous local enthusiasts. One such gem is Lake Innes. Lake Innes is of historical, environmental and cultural significance to the people of Lake Cathie and Port Macquarie, and to the people of New South Wales. Once it was the largest freshwater lake on the New South Wales coast, which made it an integral part of local Aboriginal life and early European settlement, with Major Archibald Innes, after whom the lake is named, setting up his homestead along its shores. It also played a large part in the invention of the surf ski, which was based on a sit-on-top kayak made by Harry McLaren for the purposes of duck shooting.
In 1933 a poorly executed plan to drain the watercourse resulted in inundation from the Lake Cathie estuarine system and a lake that now fluctuates between hyper-saline and freshwater, with most areas considered brackish. This has impacted significantly on the flora and fauna of the lake, with freshwater species of fish unable to survive, given the changed conditions, and most freshwater vegetation now confined to the marginal areas along the edges of the lake. In 1929 Albert Dick reported 8,000 to 10,000 hardhead ducks on the lake, which also supported breeding Pacific black ducks, black swans, Australasian shovelers, black-necked storks and a range of other wildlife. The rich bird, aquatic and flora inventory was radically affected by the 1933 attempt to drain the lake. As the largest freshwater body on the mid North Coast, the loss of Lake Innes habitat is considered regionally critical.
Eighty-seven years on we have had a chance to take a fresh look at this huge and significant lake system and to act on the findings of existing reports that suggest a window of opportunity to recolonise freshwater vegetation by approximately 2015. A plan to revert the lake to freshwater has been discussed, debated and analysed for years. It is widely believed that the lake's reversion would provide a secure and permanent breeding habitat for many waterbirds that currently are listed as threatened species. It will provide also a drought refuge for those waterbird species restricted to fresh water, and it would provide a tourism bonanza via the reintroduction of freshwater fish species that often are favoured by anglers. Aside from that, recreational opportunities abound and there is evidence that a reversion to freshwater would drought proof the mid North Coast by providing a freshwater reservoir.
Lake Innes is one of a number of areas within the Port Macquarie electorate that is struggling to come to terms with past practices designed to turn watercourses into farming land, which have had a significant environmental and ecological impact. The Big Swamp project that currently is the subject of public discussion for Greater Taree City Council shows the effects that draining natural wetlands can have on river systems, with the resulting acid sulphate run-off impacting on the Manning River. The Lake Innes reversion plan, which would increase freshwater habitat on the mid North Coast from 40 hectares to more than 700 hectares, has been discussed locally with various environment Ministers for more than a decade. Its history includes the Lake Innes Nature Reserve Plan of Management adopted in 1999 followed in 2004 by the Umwelt report—"A Tale of Two Lakes"—which recommended that an environmental impact statement [EIS] be carried out.
Since then the process has stalled. The National Parks and Wildlife Service and Port Macquarie-Hastings Council have agreed that the reversion should be investigated through an EIS process, which would cost around $120,000. Much of the research work has been carried out and there is data on water quality, terrestrial and aquatic fauna, vegetation and the physical processes required. An EIS is required to complete the process and would include input from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the council, the Lake Cathie community, Fisheries, professional fishermen and other stakeholders—input that is crucial in resolving uncertainty over the future of the lake. Lake Innes Nature Reserve stretches into Lake Cathie and from Lake Cathie to Port Macquarie, and is within easy reach of the Port Macquarie central business district. It is on the edge of a high-growth neighbourhood and is already a popular ecotourism resource.
There are plans to develop a walking and cycle track around the lake which, with support from the Government, will provide even greater tourism and lifestyle opportunities for our community. I urge the Government to support an environmental impact statement into the reversion of Lake Innes to freshwater before that opportunity is lost for all time.
