Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I don't think I'm exaggerating too much today by stating from the outset that I think my predecessor, the Hon. EG Whitlam AC QC, would be pleased with this piece of legislation. The reason is simple and twofold. Firstly, Gough was a great believer in ratifying international conventions. He thought they were a great way to make progress both at home and globally.

Today's bill, the Environment Protection (Sea Dumping) Amendment (Using New Technologies to Fight Climate Change) Bill, will amend the sea dumping act to meet Australia's international obligations under the London protocol to support ratification of the 2009 and 2013 amendments. Of particular interest, of course, is that the forerunner to this protocol was the 1972 London convention, which started on 29 December 1972—27 days after Gough's first historic victory. Secondly, I think Gough Whitlam would be delighted today because of the subject: protecting the marine environment.

Through the sixties, the Bjelke-Petersen government advocated for oil drilling on the Great Barrier Reef. In response to this, the Whitlam government passed the Seas and Submerged Lands Act, which gave the Commonwealth authority over the states in relation to the seas surrounding Australia. The aim of Gough's legislation was clear: to block the wholesale destruction of the Great Barrier Reef. Despite efforts by the New South Wales and Queensland governments in the High Court, Gough triumphed, and the legislation was confirmed as valid and the reef was saved—forever. Then, in 1975, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was created. Sadly, of course, there's a new threat. This time climate change—and not the Bjelke-Petersen government—has emerged to threaten the reef, but that's a subject for another day and another debate.

This bill will regulate the loading, dumping and incineration of waste at sea and the placement of artificial reefs in Australian waters. It will also prohibit the disposal of harmful materials into the oceans that are considered harmful to the marine environment. The government realises that, while these amendments were agreed to by the parties to the protocol in 2009 and 2013 respectively, they have yet to enter into force.

The 2009 amendment was adopted to permit the export of carbon dioxide streams from a contracting state party to another country for the purpose of carbon sequestration into seabed geological formation, also known as carbon capture and storage. The 2013 amendment was adopted to allow the placement of waste and other matter for marine geoengineering activity, such as ocean fertilisation, for the purposes of scientific research. Examples of these sorts of scientific activities include microbubbles, injecting tiny bubbles into the ocean surface or into sea foam to increase sunlight reflectivity; marine cloud brightening or seeding, injecting sea salt into cloud updraft to reflect sunlight back into space; ocean alkalinisation, adding alkaline substances into seawater to enhance the ocean's natural carbon sink; and, macroalgae cultivation, large-scale growth of algae that converts dissolved carbon dioxide into organic carbon through photosynthesis.

The passing of this bill will ensure Australia is able to begin developing a robust regulatory framework.

In turn, this will enable the government to administer permits for these internationally emerging activities and ensure legal certainty. Put another way, should this not be introduced there would be no robust regulatory framework, such that operators and researchers may look for loopholes and create their own initiatives to undertake unregulated activities.

The bill makes updates to the sea dumping act to provide effective implementation and enforcement of new permits. The bill will also adopt modern drafting practices. And this bill is long overdue. Our marine environment is too precious and fragile to ignore. The ocean covers more than 70 per cent of our planet, and 97 per cent of Earth's water can be found in the ocean. Recently I was shocked to learn that even in the deepest parts of the ocean, in the Pacific's Mariana Trench, plastic waste has been found. That's 36,000 feet down, and it is a shameful indictment on how we have neglected our environment and our oceans.

We need to act now. I commend the minister on bringing this bill to the House and I also commend the widespread consultation that has been undertaken, both within government and with external stakeholders. Indeed, these amendments were the subject of a recent inquiry undertaken by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water. The committee recommended that these changes be enacted into Australian law for both environmental and regional foreign purposes. Further, the enactment of these amendments was also recommended in an independent policy insights paper from the Climate Change Authority in April 2023. Thus support for these measures in this bill is overwhelming. This member for Werriwa commends the bill to the House in the full confidence that her predecessor, the great Mr Whitlam himself, would heartily concur.

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