Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Just for the record, you can guarantee we are going to be watching this like a hawk to ensure that this does not happen.

I will go to item 7, which requires the Titles Administrator to notify the environ­ment minister when the titles have been vacated. This would allow the environment minister to easily know of and consider marine areas for further protection when it is clear that the areas are not of interest to resource companies. Australia is embark­ing—and I touched on this in a speech I gave in this place yesterday—on what I hope is a rigorous exercise to put in place a system of marine protected areas around this country. Again in this place yesterday we heard of the values of the marine environment and we heard of the need for marine protection. We understand of course, and continue to express our concern about, resource exploitation overriding the need for marine protection, but where an area has been vacated by the resource sector we think it is fair enough that the minister be notified that the area has become available, which would facilitate their consideration of whether that area should be included in a marine protected area of some form.