Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's no secret that the Liberals have a shameful record when it comes to the environment. There's never been a critical watertable they wouldn't sell off, an endangered species they wouldn't forgo or a pristine old-growth forest they wouldn't chop down in the name of progress. But the Turnbull government's latest decision to lock in the largest removal of marine conservation area in history is another level entirely. They have gutted Australia's precious protected marine parks in one of the most savage acts of environmental vandalism you can imagine. No government anywhere in the world has removed this much area from conservation on land or sea ever in the entirety of our history. The more pristine the area, the more savage the changes are. The Coral Sea has gone from being the jewel in the crown of the Commonwealth marine parks, protecting the eastern side of the Great Barrier Reef, to being now a haven for long-lining and trawling. Recreational fishers have also lost the largest recreational-only fishing area in the world, with large-scale industrial fishers and trawlers now getting a standing invitation to exploit Australia's marine life.

All of this comes at a time when our oceans are already besieged by a toxic cocktail of acidification, marine plastics and overfishing. I have been humbled and heartened by the incredible backlash from my community to this stunning act of environmental vandalism. Today, I speak for all of us when I say: enough is enough. This week I officially launched my 'protect our oceans' campaign to spread the word about this egregious act of vandalism and encourage more people to speak out and fight back.

Labor put the world's largest network of marine parks in place in 2013, protecting over 2.3 million square kilometres of our oceans. Today I call on the Turnbull government to stand up for our oceans and reinstate protections that were enshrined in Australia's national marine reserve network back in 2013. When we protect our oceans, we are protecting our future. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing less.

In April this year, Australians were united in their disgust and anger at the sickening vision of the horrendous conditions on board a live sheep export vessel bound for the Middle East. We saw tens of thousands of animals crammed in shoulder to shoulder, standing in a deep layer of excrement and filth. We saw distressed sheep struggling to breathe and slowly dying from heat stress. And we saw corpses left to rot, while others were carelessly thrown overboard. Like everyone, I was sickened. Labor called for an immediate stop to the northern summer live sheep trade, but, sadly, these calls were ignored and ships continued to leave our shores. Make no mistake, a Shorten Labor government will, at the first opportunity, put an end to the northern summer live sheep trade. We have also committed to phasing out the industry and working with farmers to plan for a future that doesn't rely on live sheep exports.

But Australia shouldn't have to wait for a Labor government to be elected. That's why, in the most recent sitting of the federal parliament, Labor put forward an amendment to the government's live export legislation that would have achieved exactly these things. We know there are a number of government members who support the measures in the legislation, and there's a very real chance they would have been willing to vote with their conscience on this critical issue. Perhaps this would have been enough for the amendments to pass. Regrettably, this was never tested, because the government wouldn't allow the bill to come to a vote. Instead, terrified that their members would cross the floor and support the bill, the government made the extraordinary decision to pull the legislation off the table. I was outraged to see the Prime Minister, after all the feigned anger over the Awassi Express incident, put his own political survival ahead of animal welfare standards. I say enough is enough. This cannot go on, and it is time to act. I call on the Turnbull government to stop this deliberate stonewalling and let parliament have its say. We need to put an end to the terrible trade of live sheep exports to the Middle East once and for all.