Sam Lim (Tangney, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

One of my first careers was as a dolphin trainer. Dolphins can sense everything about you. If you are angry, they will swim away. If you are happy, calm, grounded, they all want to be with you. They are so intelligent. One of the many lessons I learned from that job, which I still say was the best job in my whole life, is a lesson that I bring with me into this House to express my support for this bill. As the park was closing down, I took the four dolphins into the wild ocean myself. I lived on a boat for a few weeks as the dolphins gradually got used to the ocean life. A few wild dolphins soon came and joined them, and they would go all out to play. Sometimes my old friends would come back to the boat and poke out their noses and say 'hello'. Eventually it was time to go, so I jumped into the ocean one final time and said goodbye to all of them. It was a very sad moment for me, but of course dolphins belong out in the wild.

Australia has a long history of taking care of our ocean, of protecting Australia's marine biodiversity, and od ensuring sustainable management of fisheries is a priority for our government. You can see this through the decision we have taken to triple the size of Macquarie Island Marine Park and to quadruple the size of the Heard and McDonald Island marine parks. More than half of Australia's ocean is now protected in marine parks. We are working towards having 30 per cent of our ocean protected in a highly protected area by 2030. Generations of future Australians will be able to continue to enjoy our coastal ecosystem.

Australia is a global leader in marine protection. We are actively working and partnering with other countries to better protect more of our world's oceans. Around 60 per cent of the global ocean is beyond national jurisdiction, but currently only around one per cent is protected. Australia is a founding signatory of this High Seas Biodiversity Treaty. The treaty established an international legal framework for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. This treaty will work together with the international and regional rules and framework that already exist to protect the ocean. It will play a critical role in achieving a shared global goal of protecting 30 per cent of the world's marine area by 2030. By ratifying the treaty, Australia will become party to the treaty. This will allow Australia to participate in the management of the ocean beyond our marine time boundary so we can protect the ocean's health and make sure that global rules align with our national interests.

Australia's marine industries, for example, fishery and tourism, need a clean and healthy ocean. It is important that we have sustainable development.

I want to share a final lesson from my friends the dolphins. Dolphins do not breathe automatically. Their breathing is consciously controlled. So, when dolphins sleep, only one half of the brain can sleep at a time. Dolphins have to make a choice to come to the surface to breathe. They choose to breathe and live. This lesson to me at that time was that our choices matter. We have a responsibility to make good choices not only for today but for future generations. So ratifying the high seas biodiversity treaty demonstrates Australia's commitment to international law and our commitment to better protecting our ocean and its marine life for future generations. I'm pleased to support this bill.

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