Dave Sharma (Wentworth, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australia is an oceans superpower. We have the third-largest exclusive economic zone of any nation in the world—some 10 million square kilometres, larger than our landmass of 7.7 million square kilometres, and this gives Australia a unique responsibility, indeed, a duty, to protect the health of the world's oceans.

Oceans cover almost three-quarters of the world's planet. They are a source massive biological diversity, containing upwards of 10 million marine species. They're a source of livelihoods. Over three billion people get almost a fifth of their protein from the ocean, making fish a bigger source of protein than beef. Fishing and aquaculture underpin the livelihoods of one in 10 people around the world. But, perhaps most importantly, our oceans and their interaction with the atmosphere do much to determine our climate and our weather systems. Marine phytoplankton, the plant components of the plankton community, produces 50 per cent of the oxygen on earth. Oceans have absorbed as much as half of all anthropogenic carbon emissions over the past two centuries, and blue carbon ecosystems, such as mangroves, seagrass beds, tidal marshes, and other marine and coastal vegetative ecosystems are among the most intense carbon sinks on the planet.

But our oceans are under pressure—under pressure from neglect, under pressure from overfishing, under pressure from pollution and under pressure from climate change. Almost 90 per cent of fish stocks are fished at or beyond their sustainable limit around the world. By the middle of the century, the ocean could contain more plastic than fish by weight, causing immense damage to the animals and ecosystems that depend on the ocean. The warming of the oceans, caused by climate change, is doing damage to corals, including our own Great Barrier Reef. Greater concentrations of carbon dioxide are making it more acidic, making it less hospitable for creatures like crabs and oysters, with calcium carbonate shells.

As the custodians of the Great Barrier Reef and of much of the world's oceans, Australia has a unique responsibility here. This is why the health of the reef, one of the subject matters of this motion, is so important. We have introduced the Reef 2050 plan to improve the health of the Great Barrier Reef. We have the $100 million Environment Restoration Fund, which is targeting the cleaning of oceans and waterways. We are spearheading efforts to get more plastics out of the ocean, including in cooperation with our neighbouring countries in the Pacific. And a bill that will be debated later today, the Recycling and Waste Reduction Bill, is one step further towards building a circular economy in Australia, where we take more responsibility for our own waste and process it on shore. We are also doing our part to tackle climate change, meeting our targets to reduce our emissions in line with our Paris commitments.

People in my community of Wentworth, and, indeed, many of Sydney's residents, feel especially attached to the ocean. They live and breathe it every day, whether it's taking the ferry to work; volunteering at a surf club on the weekend; taking their kids down to Nippers; having a swim or a surf at the start or the end of the day; or doing one of the amazing coastal walks, like the Bondi to Bronte walk or the Hermitage Foreshore walk. We in Wentworth are all very attuned to the health of the ocean and want to do our part to protect and preserve it for future generations. That's why community opinion is so strong against the application to extend the petroleum exploration permit 11 licence, or PEP 11, covering the coastline off Sydney, the waters off the New South Wales South Coast between Newcastle and Wollongong. This is one of the most densely populated and trafficked strips of ocean in the world. It's also one of the most beautiful and most iconic.

I think many people are surprised to learn that such exploration is even happening right in our backyard, never mind that there is a prospect of renewing such exploration. After 10 years of exploration nothing has been found. In those 10 years, as times change so do values and so do priorities. In the Great Barrier Reef, it was a coalition government that banned oil and gas exploration on the Reef. It was a coalition government that helped the Great Barrier Reef win World Heritage status in 1981. And it was a coalition government that expanded no-take zones to increase from five per cent to 33 per cent of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. I think this PEP 11 is a clear issue where times and values have changed and where what might've been acceptable 10 years ago is no longer acceptable.

This is a joint decision of the New South Wales and Commonwealth governments. I will be making known my opposition and that of my community of Wentworth to both of them. The people of Wentworth stand for the protection of our oceans and waterways and against the renewal of PEP 11.

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