Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Hansard source

You've got 10—it's Scott Morrison-esque, the number of shadow ministers for the environment in the Greens. I'm happy to meet with all of you individually!

I welcome the question from Senator Whish-Wilson and, in particular, his inquiry about how Australia can be taken seriously on the international stage about these matters. I can assure Senator Whish-Wilson, having recently attended the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, that we are internationally seen as a world leader when it comes to these matters. What was very clear at that conference was that the commitments Australia has made, in general, around ocean protection matters—including our commitment to pass legislation to see the ratification of the high-seas biodiversity treaty—are very much welcomed. The action that we've taken as a member of the High Ambition Coalition, when it comes to the plastics treaty that Senator Whish-Wilson is asking about, is also very much welcomed.

I participated in an event at that conference that included representatives of upwards of 80 countries who are members of the High Ambition Coalition for signing that plastic treaty. Senator Whish-Wilson is correct that, in the next few weeks, the treaty will be up for discussion at the relevant conference in Geneva. That is not a conference I will be attending, because I will be hard at work here in Australia, but we do take these matters about plastic pollution seriously, and I do seriously welcome the interest from Senator Whish-Wilson, who I know cares about these matters very deeply. The reality is that plastic pollution is a global problem; it's going to need global solutions. But we are, in the meantime, getting on with work domestically. I'm happy to talk more about that should there be some further questions.