Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think it is really appropriate that this report follows the previous report looking at the role of science for fisheries and aquaculture, because the report that we have before us today which is looking at biodiversity and climate change actually links into that science. The committee did this in Northern Queensland, and I will touch on that a little bit later in my contribution to this debate. This report looks at biodiversity and climate change and looks at it in relation to ecosystems. One of those ecosystems is terrestrial, marine and freshwater biodiversity, and that very much links into the science. It looks at connectivity between ecosystems and biodiversity loss from the impact of human communities, enhancing climate change adaption, sustainable use of natural resources, ecosystems and the adequate current governance arrangements and enhanced community engagement. This particular report deals with the committee's visits to Victoria, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Northern Queensland.

When the committee visited Victoria, we visited various sites in and around Melbourne and we also visited the Melbourne Museum. Some very significant submissions and evidence taken by the committee were from BirdLife Australia. They highlighted the importance and impact that climate change was having on bird life in that state. The committee also visited the history museum and looked at the importance of that museum in collecting and disseminating information. We had representatives from the Melbourne Museum and BirdLife Australia, and they talked about the collaboration and cooperation that takes place between them and other organisations. It was great to see the way children and families actively engaged in interaction within the Melbourne Museum when looking at biodiversity related exhibitions. It was very pleasing to note that the awareness of biodiversity and climate change among those young people was very impressive.

One of the most important and impressive aspects of out visit there was when we met and learnt about citizen science and how it is working to increase local expertise. It has amateur scientists within the broader community feeding back into those more recognised scientific institutions. It gave the committee a lot of insight into the way you can adopt a best-practice approach to collecting information involving the community and how that contributes to the overall body of scientific information. BirdLife Australia have played an enormous and very important role. They have several projects to help improve the resilience of bird populations and help them adapt to climate change. One is Shorebirds 2020. This is a project to raise community awareness of the importance of tidal ecosystems and it seeks protection for those shorebirds because climate change does have an impact on them. Woodland Birds for Biodiversity looks at improving on-the-ground management and protection of woodland habitats. Beach-Nesting Birds focuses on the improved management of beach nesting with climate change and rising sea levels. We were able to see these impacts when the committee visited those areas. So there is a range of existing stressors that impact on birds and their habitats. One of those stressors is climate change. It made the committee realise the complexities that are associated with conserving birdlife, particularly shore birdlife. The committee decided that we would expect even greater challenges in relation to bird species, considering the impact that climate change is having.

The next area that the committee visited was South Australia. As members know—including you, Madam Deputy Speaker, being a South Australian—it is the driest inhabited part of the continent. We looked at the impact on the Coorong and the Lower Lakes in the Murray mouth region. One of the really outstanding inspections that the committee made was at the mouth of the Murray. We visited the communities that had been very badly affected by the drought, climate change and all the other issues around the Murray-Darling area. We saw the changes that have taken place in the area. It was very impressive to see the way the community had worked together and the initiatives that had been taken to address some of the catastrophic problems they have in the area. I am very pleased to see the legislation before the parliament this week. It is very important legislation to you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

We also visited the Greenfields Wetlands in the city of Salisbury. We saw some of the initiatives that they had put in place at the Salisbury wetland. We looked at the benefits of the wetland, including the frogs, the froglets and the little wetland creatures. The committee received documents on the management of mosquitoes, stormwater treatment, harvesting stormwater and monitoring water quality. That gave us an insight into the groundbreaking project that Salisbury council had implemented in that area. We learnt about the social and cultural impacts and the need to have functioning wetlands and functioning river systems. The inspections in South Australia focused on freshwater biodiversity and underlined the impacts that diversity has in that region. It was time very well spent.

The committee then visited Kakadu in the Northern Territory. All members know the importance of the wetlands in Kakadu. It is a nationally important ecosystem. The committee was lucky to look at those iconic wetlands. We saw high biodiversity and the national value of those wetlands. The landforms and habitats in the park included sandstone plateaus, escarpments, extensive areas of savanna woodland, open forest, floodplains, mangroves, tidal mudflats, and coastal and monsoon forest areas. It is such diverse area with a series of very complex issues to confront to ensure that it maintains its current resilience and is able to fight the impact of climate change along with all those other issues that are having an impact on the park.

I think it is important that I mention the impact that invasive weeds have across all areas and the impact of invasive weeds that are associated with climate change. Weeds that would not have existed in some areas previously now flourish due to the impact of climate change.

When we were at Kakadu, the managers of the park highlighted the need for a dynamic specific ecosystem. The particular relationship that exists in Kakadu with its joint ownership also creates some challenges. But I believe that it really adds to the special aspects of Kakadu. Following that, the committee went to North Queensland and visited Townsville. We looked at the vulnerability of marine and coral ecosystems. It was interesting to hear the last debate because it was about science and fishing. One of the things that was really highlighted to the committee was how climate change is having a big impact in that area. You can look at the impact on coral, you can look at the impact on fishing and you can look at the impact on the wet tropics. All the information that the committee received highlighted that climate change is impacting on the biodiversity of that region. We looked at invasive species and how they are leading to species decline. I touched on that briefly a moment ago when I mentioned invasive weeds. We saw that there has been a spread of myrtle rust. That is a great concern in the wet tropics, as it is in other areas of Australia.

Throughout North Queensland the committee heard about current and future effects that increased temperatures and levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide will have on the local ecosystems. We also looked at ocean acidification and the impact that that will have on the reef's ecosystem. We met with the university and the reef authority. There are a number of concerns in that area that show that we really need to take action to ensure the long-term sustainability of biodiversity in that very important area.

Both Kakadu and the Great Barrier Reef are iconic areas in Australia. They are areas that we as a nation need to ensure are protected. We need to ensure that the biodiversity of those areas is protected. That can only happen if we take action now and look at addressing the impact that climate change has on biodiversity.

I conclude by saying that this is a very, very important report. This is something that goes to the iconic nature of Australia, which is something that we as a nation need to protect. The last thing I would like to mention is that the committee also received evidence from people about the changes to the EPBC Act and the need to make sure that any change does not impact on our biodiversity. I commend the report to the House.

Kelvin Thomson (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to report on two of the visits which the Standing Committee on Climate Change, Environment and the Arts undertook. The first one, which has been commented on by the member for Shortland, was the visit to the greenfields wetlands in Adelaide. The City of Salisbury is located on the northern fringes of Adelaide. With approximately 130,000 residents it is the second-largest local government community in South Australia. It has experienced rapid residential and commercial growth and it is South Australia's most productive manufacturing region. The city has established a stormwater recycling program that provides business and community customers with non-potable water. This has contributed to reducing Adelaide's overall reliance on the River Murray to meet its water requirements and delivered biodiversity benefits for the area and for the adjacent marine ecosystems.

The committee inspected the wetlands on 17 May this year. We saw that it is one of over 50 constructed wetlands that help the city to manage its water supply and improve water quality. We received a briefing from Colin Pittman, the General Manager of City Projects at the City of Salisbury. The wetlands are located approximately one kilometre inland from the sea on a site that previously consisted of hypersaline soils. The area is slightly below high tide level, which historically made industrial and residential development in the area problematic. Overdrawing from aquifers in the area had resulted in depleted reserves, risking saltwater intrusion into the aquifers.

The city's stormwater recycling program involved the construction of wetlands. The urban stormwater run-off is treated in these wetlands through a range of natural processes: filtering of larger particles by riparian vegetation; aquatic plants and animals absorbing nutrients and organic matter; the effect of sunlight and oxygen on bacteria; and suspended clay particles settling on the bottom of the wetland. As a consequence the greenfields wetlands are able to remove approximately 90 per cent of pollutants and nutrients within a 24-hour period. This treated stormwater is then either distributed throughout the city to government or industrial consumers for irrigation and non-potable commercial use or stored in depleted underground aquifers during the wet season for later use during the dry season.

It was very interesting to note that during the drought in South Australia, which impacted on many of us, the City of Salisbury not only had enough water to meet all its municipal needs but was able to sell water to industrial customers. I thought it was a terrific project. As well as this, you still have the situation of a lot of stormwater run-off being discharged into Gulf St Vincent. The City of Salisbury has adopted a policy to clean all the stormwater run-off before it is released into Barker Inlet, which is an estuary of Gulf St Vincent. So they are able to clean up any of the stormwater before it does in fact go into Barker Inlet.

The committee noticed that urban stormwater, which has traditionally been regarded as something of a problem, can be harnessed and managed through constructed wetlands, and therefore you get the sustainable use of water resources, enhanced urban design, biodiversity benefits and so on. It really was a great project. I particularly want to commend the member for Makin because, in his previous local government life, he was one of the architects of this project. I think it really is a model for other councils, potentially right around Australia, to pick up how you can use stormwater better and harness it to your own advantage.

The other visit the committee undertook was to Westernport Bay, in my home state of Victoria. Westernport Bay is home to many migratory shorebirds, including the red-necked stint, the eastern curlew, the curlew sandpiper, the great knot and the red knot. These birds undertake remarkable journeys, as many members would be aware. They breed in the Arctic during the northern summer and then migrate up to 12,000 kilometres to spend the non-breeding season in Australia's intertidal wetlands. Over a 30-year period volunteers have been collecting data around Westernport Bay about these species. It is a matter of regret that nearly all the migratory shorebird species have been declining in numbers. The committee was informed that the species that have seen particularly dramatic declines include the eastern curlew, the curlew sandpiper and the red knot.

The major route taken by these birds during their migration from the Arctic to southern Australia is known as the East Asian-Australasian flyway. The problem appears not to be changes to their habitat in Australia but the question of the weakest link in the chain. The loss of habitat in East Asia and South-East Asia appears to be the primary cause of the declines in our migratory shorebird numbers. Tidal mudflats around the Yellow Sea are key stopover sites for many birds on the East Asian-Australasian flyway. If they do not have access to adequate food sources along the journey, they are simply not able to travel the distances required.

The committee heard that between 50 and 60 per cent of the total zone around the Yellow Sea has been reclaimed, and BirdLife Australia provided examples of recent large-scale industrial developments on sites which were once important feeding grounds. Australia does have bilateral agreements in place with the governments of Japan, China and the Republic of Korea for the protection of migratory birds but the evidence suggests that the agreements have not been effective in preventing the destruction of key stopover habitats. The committee noted concerns about the adequacy of international agreements for the protection of these habitats and intends to consider this matter carefully in the context of its inquiry.

That is very helpful from my point of view. I welcome the committee's consideration of this issue because, amongst other things, some of the bodies who do the best work in this area—Wetlands International and BirdLife Australia—have written to me in my capacity as chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties pointing out that we are experiencing these declines in migratory birds as a result of the reclamation of land in South Korea and the Yellow Sea and so on. They are seeking that the Treaties Committee become involved in this issue. Much as I would like the Treaties Committee to be involved in this issue, to date our workload commitments have prevented us from getting involved in this issue in the way that I would like. So I am very pleased to note that the standing committee on climate change does intend to do further work in this area.

There is no doubt that it is a serious problem. Something like 45 per cent of the world's population lives in the geographic area covered by the East Asian-Australasian flyway. This has given rise to escalating pressure and adverse impacts on the migratory waterbirds. There are 17 species listed as in decline and five species listed as threatened. The loss and declining condition of habitat is a consequence of impacts from pollution; increasing expansion of industrial and port facility development; oil production; agriculture; agriculture and fishing operations; urban growth; and direct competition between people and birds for the tidal flat marine resources. All those things are factors contributing to the disturbing trend of waterbird population decline.

As these bodies have pointed out, economic development pressure in many flyway countries does not take into account biodiversity considerations or the importance of conservation of priority habitat for a wide variety of species. So I welcome the indications from the committee on climate change that it intends to do more work in this area, and I look forward to its further report. I commend the current report to the House.

Debate adjourned.