Senate debates

Monday, 30 November 2015

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Workplace Gender Equality Agency

5:03 pm

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

I rise to take note of the response from the Minister for the Environment, Mr Hunt, to a resolution of the Senate of 9 November 2015 concerning marine reserves.

In his letter in response to that resolution, which I brought to the Senate and which is around reinstating our marine protected areas and seeking to pursue the community's call for the government to give our marine reserves back, Mr Hunt said, 'The Turnbull government is committed to Australia's system of representative marine reserves.' At this stage you could have fooled me, because they have not effectively been in place for some two years. He goes on to say, 'Marine reserves first proclaimed in 2012 remain in place and do not require reinstatement.' That is not really the situation.

Within months of coming to government, the Abbott government got rid of the management plans for these marine reserves, effectively making these marine reserves, these marine protected areas, just lines on the map—because, without management plans, these reserves are not being managed. We do not have the appropriate zoning in place. This was because the government gave in to the perceived pressure from the recreational fishing sector and the fishing sector.

There are a hell of a lot of fishers that actually support marine protected areas, because they actually understand the evidence. They understand the value of these marine protected areas. They understand the value of protecting our marine biodiversity. In a world of changing climate, there has never been a more important time to ensure that we have in place an effective system of marine reserves around Australia.

Australia used to be one of the world-leading nations in marine protected areas, but we are now being fast outdone by some of the large areas that are being put in place around the world. Mr Hunt saying that they do not require reinstatement is subterfuge. It is trying to trick Australians into thinking: 'We haven't done anything with these marine reserves. Don't look here. We don't need to reinstate them'. Well, they do—because these reserves are not in place. They are not protecting our unique marine biodiversity.

Mr Hunt goes on to say, 'An independent review of the zoning and management arrangements of the reserves proclaimed in 2012 is nearing completion following nationwide consultation.' The minister and the government persist in the untruth that, in fact, there was no consultation on marine protected areas, when, quite clearly, there was nationwide consultation, not just once but over a long period of time and more than once.

He goes on to talk about 'expert consideration of the science underpinning those arrangements'. He says that, 'the review recommendations will inform the development of new management plans that are appropriately balanced with conservation, recreation, commercial and Indigenous needs.'

This review was supposed to finish earlier this year. When I asked in estimates when the review was going to be presented to government, when the government was going to actually make decisions and release the promised new management plans, the government and the department were unable to answer. This review has been going on and on and on. It is unlikely that we will see anything before the end of the year, which further blows out the development of the management plans, which further blows out when they are released, which further blows out when we get our marine reserves back.

We know, as I said, that marine reserves are important for the protection of marine biodiversity, but they also have value for fisheries management and our tourism industry and, increasingly, they are the basis for marine tourism. In fact, people now call them tourism powerhouses because there is so much tourism around our marine environment. They support a range of other growing industries, which I have spoken about at length in this chamber. Our message to the government—and the community's message, because they are repeatedly sending it—is: 'We want our marine reserves back. We want those marine reserves in place so they are protecting our unique marine biodiversity and our valuable marine environment.'

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