Kerry Rea (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The electorate of Bonner, which takes in the south-east suburbs of Brisbane, is I think one of the most beautiful and biodiverse electorates that you would find amongst our three major metropolitan capital cities. It is bordered by Moreton Bay and the Brisbane River and it contains several mountains and some pristine creek catchments. But undoubtedly the jewel in the crown of that electorate is the magnificent sand island, Moreton Island. That is why members in the House will appreciate that those of us who know and love that island so dearly were devastated when we saw the first images of the massive oil spill that had occurred on 11 March. The Pacific Adventurer, off the island in the ocean at the time, lost 31 containers, causing approximately 270 tonnes of oil to leak into the ocean and wash up on the pristine beaches of Moreton Island. It was a dramatic sight to see what are usually beautiful white sands completely black and covered in oil. It was of grave concern and required an immediate but also practical and effective response.

I rise this evening to congratulate all of those who were involved in the clean-up of Moreton Island. I am happy to say that as of 11 May the beaches have been open to the public and you would not know the devastation that had occurred only a couple of short months ago. Of course, 11 March was also significant in Queensland because we were in the final days of a state election campaign. It was unfortunate that the oil spill on Moreton Island, which should have required everybody’s support, focus and attention, became a political football. There were criticisms from members of the Liberal and National parties at both the local and state level about the government’s response. It is unfortunate that when these things occur people want to score political points.

Not only did those involved in the clean-up take the time to become informed about the nature of the response; for a start, you were in cyclonic conditions and the safety of workers had to be paramount. Secondly, the oil was washing up onto the beach. If you had gone in there straightaway and removed it, inevitably you would also have been removing sand. You would have had more oil washing up on the beach and therefore more sand to be removed, and indeed the damage to the beaches would have been quite significant. It was a much more practical response to wait for all of the oil to be washed up onto the beach and then begin what was an incredible clean-up operation.

It is also a shame that when we have these political games played that it is fair cop for us as politicians to get involved in the argy-bargy. Unfortunately, it is those incredibly dedicated people who are out there trying to do their best in these situations that feel the brunt of that criticism. They take it personally. I know that. I have visited the island twice since the oil spill and on both occasions I have discussed with the workers the incredible efforts they have made. All of them to a person feel so proud of what they have achieved but hurt and disappointed because of criticisms that were made that blamed them for not cleaning up the beaches appropriately.

I want to particularly acknowledge Peter Keytes, who was the incident control officer; Adrian Haws, who ran the incident room; Jane Howard, the media officer, who obviously dealt with all of those difficult criticisms; ‘Squirrel’, a great guy out there driving trucks and looking after the contamination area; Willy, the bobcat owner; and particularly Trevor Hassard, the Manager of Tangalooma Island Resort. He had to cope with 300 men being billeted to his resort, often doubling up in rooms. They had to be fed, looked after and catered for. This was an incredible operation. You are on an island where the beaches can only be accessed by two sand roads. The men were taken over in buses on very sandy, bumpy roads every day. I commend the operation and those who were involved. (Time expired)

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