Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I, and also on behalf of Senator Siewert, move:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

Tuesday, 2 February 2010 was World Wetlands Day,

(ii)

the day marks the anniversary of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (the Ramsar Convention) in Ramsar, Iran on 2 February 1971, and

(iii)

in 2010, the focus of World Wetlands Day is on ‘caring for our wetlands – an answer to climate change’, highlighting the continuing threat our wetlands face from unsustainable human practices and the likely impact that climate change will have on our wetland ecosystems;

(b)

recognises that:

(i)

fair water sharing across the basin is the only way the environment and those relying on the river system will be protected and sustainable,

(ii)

South Australia’s Lower Lakes are at crisis point and need the full attention of the Federal Government, and

(iii)

implementation of the Basin Plan urgently needs to be fast-tracked as the Lower Lakes and Coorong can not wait until 2019 for all states to participate in a cap on sustainable diversions and basin-wide water sharing arrangements; and

(c)

calls on the Government to:

(i)

establish an independent national authority with the powers to make decisions in the best interests of our rivers and wetlands, that cannot be vetoed by individual states,

(ii)

provide greater resources for the understanding and management of the resilience of our wetlands to the impacts of climate change, and

(iii)

ensure that South Australia’s iconic wetlands do not lose their Ramsar Convention listing.

• (iii)ensure that South Australia’s iconic wetlands do not lose their Ramsar Convention listing.