Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy President. When you have coalition MPs standing up and using fear in the debate you are entitled to deal with it, in my view. I accept what you have said. I just want to come to someone who must have understood what Robert Menzies was saying, and that is Peter Lindsay, the former Liberal MP for Herbert. I am sure you will all know the Hon. Peter Lindsay. He was the member for Herbert from 1993 to 2007. He served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence, he was a Deputy Speaker and he was a councillor for the Townsville City Council for 11 years, so I think he knows a little bit about what is happening up in the north of this country. He wrote an article in the Courier-Mail on 29 May in which he was talking about the establishment of the Coral Sea National Park. He said:

This singular act would be a fitting addition to Australia's long history of setting aside national parks to safeguard our natural wonders and unique wildlife.

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The enormous show of support includes school children, recreational fishers, divers and tourism businesses.

More than 300 marine scientists from 21 countries have endorsed the need for a stronger plan.

Senator Macdonald would know the Hon. Peter Lindsay well. Mr Lindsay is actually dealing with the reality, not the nonsense we have seen from Senator Boswell.

The Labor government is determined to look after our oceans; it is determined to look after our environment. You hear about the lockout of recreational fishermen, and Senator Boswell talked about this being an attack on blue-collar workers. I do not know too many blue-collar workers that would be putting in their little tinnie with a five-horsepower motor on the back at Bundaberg and heading out 492 kilometres to find their first national marine park.

Let me tell you what this is about: it is about protecting the big end of town. It is about the big luxury cruisers with the multimillionaires and the billionaires and the marlin fishers getting out into these proposed marine parks. Nobody should be under any illusion about what this is: it is typical Liberal and coalition policy. Look after the big end of town. The little dinghies are not getting pushed out from Cairns to go 210 kilometres before they find a marine park. The boilermaker finishing work in the workshop is not going home and saying to the wife and kids, 'Let's go out on the weekend and do a bit of fishing; we'll head out to this marine park and we'll go 492 kilometres in the tinnie.' Give us a break. It is an absolute load of nonsense that these people are going on with. They are anti science, they are environmental vandals and they are economic incompetents, and they have the cheek to stand up here and talk to us about protecting the environment. You are an absolute disgrace when it comes to the environment. John Howard knew what had to be done; he was prepared to do it, and you have knocked that whole policy position off. You should get on with this and look after our environment.