Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Energy and Resources) Share this | Hansard source

Even though I was not a member of the committee, I have elected to speak on this report today because of the direct relevance it has to my electorate of Canning. Evidence was taken from the City of Mandurah, which has a fragile coastline and extensive low-lying waterways, and also the Shire of Waroona, which has coastline as well as very fragile lakes and world heritage listed Ramsar wetlands. As has already been said by many, this report—Managing our coastal zone in a changing climate: the time to act is nowlooks at better ways to manage our coastal zone and makes a series of recommendations designed to help future-proof our coastal communities. This is very relevant to the area that I have already described.

Importantly, many of the committee’s recommendations look at how the three tiers of government—federal, state and local—can work together to come up with viable solutions to these long-term planning issues. Australia is a country that is primarily built around its coast, with 80 per cent of our population living in what is classified as the coastal zone. In Western Australia, much of our coastal housing and infrastructure is at risk of storm surge and other severe weather events as our coast changes over time. According to Department of Climate Change figures, up to 94,000 buildings may be affected, coastal flooding may increase and beach erosion will continue, not to mention the impact that climate change may have on other infrastructure, such as road and rail.

During the inquiry, the committee visited Mandurah in the electorate of Canning and toured the coastal suburbs of Silver Sands, Halls Head and Falcon, amongst others. Mandurah has the highest growth rate of any regional city in Australia, with an anticipated annual growth of 3.39 per cent. The population is expected to grow to almost 100,000 by 2021. The city of Mandurah has a strong record of environmental protection and addressing climate change. In 1999, Mandurah joined the Cities for Climate Protection. In 2000, it set a target to reduce corporate and community greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2010. In 2001, the city hosted the 1^st Western Australian Coastal Conference. In 2008, it announced that it would undertake an assessment, which was completed in 2009, of the potential risk to Mandurah’s coastal zone. As you can see, Mandurah has certainly been involved in this issue, which is quite relevant to that city. The Mayor, Paddi Creevey, who I congratulate on her re-election in the council elections a couple of weeks ago, and her CEO, Mark Newman, should be commended on their commitment to productivity. They have enhanced disaster mitigation preparedness and response plans for the possible event of future coastal natural disasters.

I understand from reading the report and the council’s submission that the committee met with representatives of the City of Mandurah to discuss the impact that changes to our coastline will have on urban development and planning in the future. Over time many suburbs in Mandurah will be affected particularly those along the coast, around the canal developments and the near estuary. Limited flooding of the foreshore already occurs in Mandurah when higher tides coincide with storm surges. A long-term rise in sea levels may also cause further beach erosion, particularly in suburbs like Silver Sands, from which I have had a number of representations over the years and where the beach has noticeably reduced over the past few decades. As I mentioned earlier, the City of Mandurah has already looked into many of these issues through its study, which identified and prioritised the risks for Mandurah’s coastal zones and waterways, in turn allowing the city to create contingency management plans through its climate change adaptation plan.

The committee noted in particular the impact that rising sea levels will have on the extensive canal developments in several suburbs in Mandurah, including Wannanup and Halls Head, as the homes there are, by their nature, very low-lying. More generally, concerns were raised about the close proximity of some of the canal development to Ramsar wetlands. I recall the row that occurred over the Creery Wetlands and their ability to be developed. In my electorate of Canning, the Peel-Yalgorup wetlands are listed as wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar treaty. As a member of Friends of Ramsar Action Group for the Yalgorup Lakes Environment, which has the acronym FRAGYLE, I am keenly aware of the sensitive issues facing our wetlands and am determined that should we find the right balance between housing development in such areas as Preston Beach on the one hand and protecting the flora and fauna of our unique wetlands on the other. The Yalgorup lakes are the home of a very ancient and primitive form of life, the stromatolites that are found in the lakes. They need all the protection that they can get, because they are a very ancient form of life.

The committee recommends the development of an intergovernmental agreement formally endorsed by COAG to determine the roles and responsibilities of the three tiers of government. This is vital to ensure that we create an effective and cohesive coastal zone management system building on from the foundation work that has already been conducted by a number of different councils and governments across the country.

I would like to endorse the committee’s recommendation for an urgent clarification of liability issues associated with private property holders, public authorities, risk disclosure and whether there should be a broader indemnification of local government authorities in relation to coastal hazards. This clarification will go a long way to allaying the concerns raised by many stakeholders throughout the committee’s investigation and will create a solid base for the determination of future responsibilities.

In conclusion, I welcome the recommendations of the committee report and look now to the federal government to act and provide a coordinated approach to addressing the impact of climate change on our coastal zones by providing information sharing and access to funding for further research and planning to be undertaken. However, I do not subscribe to some of the hysteria surrounding the rising sea levels that ensues in some of the debates, because, as has been pointed out, what we are talking about in the first stage is very minimal, incremental increases of levels. However, over a long period of time we expect that there will be effects of climate change, as there is global warming, that will affect low-lying areas. I am not suggesting to people, particularly in my electorate, that they devalue their homes, nor am I trying to cause panic in terms of their titles because there is going to be a Noah’s ark type event in the near future, but I am pleased to see that the city of Mandurah, representing the majority of the coastal community in my electorate, have been so proactive in seeking to future-proof developments. I congratulate them on their work so far. Finally, as others have said today, I await Minister Wong’s response to the committee’s recommendations in due course.

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