Robert Oakeshott (Lyne, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Picking up on the final words from the member for Murray, I too rise to talk about the challenge and opportunity of having a unique ecosystem in Australia and of having the responsibility of managing it properly. My concerns, from a local electorate point of view, are coastal, representing the mid-North Coast of New South Wales. Part of the formal agreement that was reached with government was to get a release of a full response to the report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Climate Change, Water, Environment and the Arts inquiry into climate change and environmental impacts on coastal communities, chaired by Jennie George. This was a bipartisan report, supported by the deputy chair at the time, Mal Washer, into coastal erosion issues throughout Australia, which is an increasing headache for all levels of government to deal with. Whilst the topic of the previous speaker was the Murray-Darling Basin, many of the issues she mentioned about the management of ecosystems and of natural resources hold true for the coastal areas of my electorate.

This is important work with regard to coastal erosion. It is not only about the loss of land in millionaires row, up and down the exclusive streets on the Australian coastline; it is about the loss of open space and the rapidly increasing speed of the loss of coastal lands. This is increasing problems for local councils and various approval bodies dealing with local lands because the boundaries to determine where to do development and where to protect biodiversity are moving so quickly. On the North Coast of New South Wales and in my electorate there are two areas where there are particular concerns. At Old Bar, in the Greater Taree City Council region, there has been a significant increase in the speed of the loss of coastal lands. There is a boutique hotel there which will start to lose property if the loss of land continues at the rate it has for the last decade. One individual, Ross Keys, has had orders to knock down two of his houses at a time when refinancing from the banks during the global financial crisis hit him from another angle, so the huge problem for that individual is an example that this is a real issue affecting real people. As well, in Lake Cathie, also in the electorate of Lyne, there is the potential loss of beach right up to a local street, Chepana Street. At the current speed, a loss of local infrastructure to the community is not too far away, just like what happened at Kingscliff, further up the coast, where the foreshore road went into the water and there were significant losses of open space during the heavy seas in winter. Likewise, there has been a recent Land and Environment Court case at Byron Bay and the ongoing issues between landowners and the local council there.

Those are four North Coast examples and I am sure there are many more right around the Australian coastline that emphasise the point that this is a real problem affecting communities that desperately needs coordination and leadership from the Commonwealth level. That is exactly why a former member of this place, Jennie George, chaired the inquiry by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Climate Change, Water, Environment and the Arts that did receive bipartisan support. A lot was made of the release of that committee’s report in October 2009, more than 12 months ago. I remember, as you would, Mr Deputy Speaker Slipper, that nearly a whole question time was spent on this, with the Prime Minister talking at length about the importance of the issues raised in the report. There were 47 good recommendations, all along the lines that it is time for the Commonwealth to start to play at least a coordination role but preferably to take a leadership role in dealing with coastal erosion and the many inconsistencies that are faced at a local planning level.

An example, again from my communities, is that all the legal advice that the various councils are receiving is different. While there are some common themes, the recommendations on how to deal with those common themes are inconsistent in parts and are therefore creating greater headaches for the local councils and planning authorities, including about what to do from a legal liability point of view in addressing loss of lands and potential development approvals. I want to highlight in particular the two areas of greatest interest that I urge government to act on. One is on the legal questions, in an effort to support both local councils and also state agencies. There was a recommendation for the Australian Law Reform Commission to do some work in this space. I hope the government takes up that recommendation soon, as well as the recommendation about insurance issues. I think both the legal and the insurance aspects can drive a coordinated approach for more sensible planning throughout the coastal zone.

In addition, there are issues around emergency management. Whether or not you believe the science of climate change, the reality is that we are seeing more events in the coastal zone, and they are becoming more significant and therefore causing more damage to both private and public infrastructure. So engaging the emergency management sector in some preventative work is, I think, a valuable recommendation that is still waiting to be picked up. There was also a very good recommendation by the Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council for further work to be done in that regard. The loss of sand dunes is not just a loss of sand; it is a loss of natural resources and biodiversity in the coastal zone. That also has significance and does deserve further work.

That brings me back to a related issue, Caring for our Country. There have been some changes to the Caring for Country program. It would be nice to think we could get the forward estimates to show an increase in funding for Caring for our Country rather than a decrease, and that is certainly a continuing push at my end because it is related to a response to this report. If the government is going to be serious about responding to these 47 recommendations, catchment management authorities and the various bioregions within them will need to be engaged at a more significant level, and programs like the Caring for our Country program are the vehicle for that engagement. So I would strongly encourage the government to (a) respond to this report and (b) act on the details, such as considering programs like Caring for our Country in the forward estimates.

This is a report that is waiting for coordination and leadership. It does pick up on the previous speaker’s words—that we need to get serious about natural resource management in this country and there are economic benefits if we do. The recommendations talked about Kakadu, the Great Barrier Reef and wetlands, which the member for Murray was also taking about. They are all captured in the coastal zone, and the lack of action in the coastal zone will see the loss of many unique parts of Australian life and Australian ecosystems. I would hope that the government responds, responds soon and responds strongly to this report that is still waiting for direction from government.

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