Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern and Remote Australia) Share this | Hansard source

The Antarctic Treaty (Environment Protection) Amendment Bill 2010 aims to amend the Antarctic Treaty (Environment Protection) Act to broaden the definitions of flora and fauna protected and not permitted to be brought into Antarctica. The key amendments give authority to the minister to include invertebrates as specially protected species and prohibit invertebrates being taken from Antarctica. The bill also broadens the definitions of organisms. It increases safeguards of specially protected species and it strengthens offences relating to the accidental introduction of non-native organisms into the Antarctic.

The treaty which governs the Antarctic continent for those who are parties to the treaty—and that is not everyone, I might add—was introduced and adopted to protect Antarctica from environmental harm and not to allow the continent to become the object of international discord. In fact it was always said that the Antarctic should remain an area of peace and science and, generally speaking, that has happened. The agreements that form part of the treaty have been enacted into Australian law to strengthen that scientific cooperation that I mentioned, protection of the Antarctic environment, conservation of plants and animals and preservation of historic sites—and I might just say there that the Mawson’s Huts Foundation, a privately funded group of people, have done a marvellous job in protecting Mawson’s Huts.

The bill also introduces into Australian law the designation and management of protected areas and the management of tourism—again very important, with the increasing number of international tourists visiting the Antarctic and Antarctic waters. It also provides for information exchange, the collection of meteorological data, hydrographic charting, logistical cooperation and communications and safety. Last year, in April, the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting amended the Madrid protocol which underpins the treaty and agreed to include increased protection of the Antarctic’s flora and fauna. Those amendments are outlined in this bill. So we are actually discharging our duty as a participant in the treaty by introducing these new protocols into Australian law.

In an attempt to save just a fraction of time, I might indicate that, whilst we support the bill, we will not be supporting the amendments that, I understand, are going to be moved by the Greens. I want to indicate that the coalition and the shadow minister very much support the intent of the proposed amendments, but we do understand that it is important to get this bill through in the dying hours of this session of parliament. We will not be meeting again until May, when we will be entirely consumed by the budget issues. So, whilst the shadow minister has indicated general support for the proposed amendments, we have given an undertaking to the government to deal with this bill as noncontroversial and not to participate in what could become a quite lengthy debate on the amendments. Perhaps the amendments are of a nature that would support additional legislative action later in the year to achieve the goals that they attempt to promote. Certainly, for the moment, we will be supporting the bill so that it can pass into law and give even further and greater protection to the Antarctic continent.