Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am sure in future years when I look back at my time in this place I will remember some events that I will think back on very fondly, or with some pride. The day we introduced the legislation that abolished Work Choices, for example, was one of those times. And the day we introduced the legislation on the NDIS, just last year, was undoubtedly one of those days. But, for me, so is this one, because the Completion of Kakadu National Park (Koongarra Project Area Repeal) Bill 2013 is a very special bill that tells a very, very special story.

Most of us, particularly where I live, down in Sydney, know of Kakadu. We have the images of Kakadu in our mind; it is part of our understanding of what Australia is as a nation. We assume that it will be there and that one day we will go and see it. I hope that one day I do—and I am sure I will. But many of us probably did not realise that part of it, when Kakadu was first created back in 1979, was excluded from the original boundaries.

My ears sparked up when I first heard the name Jeffrey Lee, because my state counterpart is called Geoffrey Lee—a different person, not this Jeffrey Lee, although a fine man in his own right. When I heard the story of Jeffrey Lee, it was news to me that this part of Kakadu—this Koongarra area—had been exempted from the park and was now finally being brought home. The story of traditional owners fighting to have the lands they care for brought into the park is a great one—the story of Jeff travelling to Paris to personally put the case for World Heritage listing and managing to succeed. The action that this parliament will, I assume, take today in passing this bill that puts that part of Kakadu back where it belongs as part of one of our great environmental parks is, in its own right, a great one.

We do a lot of things in this place—tax law, Centrelink, consumer law, health policy and education policy. And the thing I am always aware of is that of all of the things we have worked on in this House there is actually only one that we did not create by living together as people, and that is the environment. Everything else we govern in this place is actually a thing of our own creation. The environment is different, because it is this profound creation, this profound thing that we as people could not ever have imagined, let alone created. It contains things that are of such marvel and such wonder, when you go out and stand in it, that it puts us very much in our place. We sometimes pretend to govern it, I think, when we decide what we can and cannot do on it. But the environment is of course something that exists incredibly well—and much better—without us.

We also introduced some other good bills last week. In fact, it was a particularly good week for the environment. This bill, of course, was introduced into the House. There was also an announcement by the WA government that it had created a substantial marine park in the Horizontal Falls area, an 80-mile beach area near Port Hedland and the Kimberley, and effectively extended the federal marine park all the way into the tidal areas of one of the most significant bird habitats in the world. In fact, it is considered to be the largest breeding ground for migratory shore birds and waders in the world. So that also was this interesting little moment in this House, when the work of this place contributed to the creation of an extraordinary space where the marvels of this earth can flourish and survive and be available to us all and to future generations.

The announcement by the minister to extend the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area was also made last week, with an additional 170,000 hectares in the Tasmanian wilderness—again, a great decision by the minister. And of course there was an announcement on the Murray-Darling, also a substantial one. I spent some time on the Darling in the last years of the drought, and I remember a mud puddle, I have to say. I looked at that and thought, 'This river system cannot survive what we do to it.' So, again, it was a great decision, as was the decision to allow applications for urban rivers in Caring for our Country. They were great announcements that, along with this one last week, made it a great week for our environment.

It is unfortunate, particularly in my state of New South Wales, that we have some things happening that are not so good for the environment. I spend a lot of time in our national parks; I am a great camper. I am lucky enough to have actually seen a cassowary—and, while I say 'lucky enough', it actually took a lot of effort to get out to a place where I could see one. I have seen a lyrebird in full dance mode, trying to attract its mate—and if you have not seen that you have missed one of the great performances of all time; it puts all of our actors to shame! I have heard a lyrebird trying to imitate the call of a kookaburra. They get all the bits right; they just don't get them in the right order. You can always tell it is a lyrebird because it is kind of 'right and wrong'. I have got up in the morning and heard very young magpies trying to learn to call. I have heard black mynas practicing their songs in their early years. And I thoroughly enjoy being out in a place where I can marvel at these wonders of nature.

I have spent a bit of time in the last years in swamps, surprisingly. The first camping trip my partner took me on was to a swamp and I got to tell people that we had gone away to a swamp for the weekend. I am particularly fond of alpine swamps

See this speech in context