Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Newcastle for this important motion and I want to thank the member for Mackellar for confirming that the federal government is doing nothing—nada—in terms of combating coastal erosion or adaption either to climate change or to the worst effects of coastal erosion. I thank him for doing that.

I want to talk about my electorate in the Northern Territory and how we are experiencing effects, like other places in our country, and why it's important that we combat coastal erosion to any extent that we can. The Northern Territory has an extensive coastline and a diverse marine environment. Our coastline's almost 11,000 kilometres, including 887 islands, and our coastal waters cover over 72,000 kilometres. That's big. These relatively undisturbed environments are unique, both nationally and globally. When I mention those statistics, they're in relation to Australia but, obviously, the Northern Territory has a large segment of that coastline. It's a long coastline, and it is relatively undisturbed for now—except for the seas rising, of course. Our Territory coastline is a great source of economic benefit and is important to the maintenance of customary practices and local Aboriginal livelihoods. As such, it is an integral part of our Top End identity and lifestyle.

The science is clear: coastal erosion presents a social, environmental, economic and existential threat to our coastal communities. Human-induced climate change will accelerate erosion, putting many communities in grave danger. After six years, this government and the current Prime Minister must finally show some real leadership and take some real action to combat climate change because all of these things in relation to our environment and the climate are linked. It's so important because our coasts and seas provide so many benefits to many user groups.

I've mentioned some of the values in the Northern Territory community in relation to First Nations Territorians and their rights and interests in the coasts and seas. It must be understood that the coasts and seas provide an excellent opportunity for the realisation of the economic, cultural and social aspirations of these people. Industries such as fishing and aquaculture, oil and gas and tourism rely on our coasts and seas. There are a great many potential economic opportunities through careful, managed development of those environments. Commercial fishing activity occurs across 15 different wild harvest fisheries in both inshore and offshore areas. Cruise ships visit Darwin in my electorate and then go on to explore remote regions of the territory, including visiting First Nations communities. The majority of the Territory's population live in or near coastal areas, and about 80 per cent of recreational fishing activity occurs in marine waters, primarily estuaries and inshore and offshore waters. It brings a lot of people to the Territory. Rec fishing is incredibly important, but it's only going to be able to continue to be sustainable if we look after our coastal environments.

I could go on and on about why I think it's important to protect the Territory's coastlines, but we basically want to see more effort—any effort—from the current federal government to help these coastal communities in their efforts to mitigate the effects of coastal erosion. (Time expired)

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