Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for the Republic) Share this | Hansard source

This motion on ocean management is a joke, isn't it? I mean, Member for Macarthur, this motion can't be serious. This motion is congratulating the Morrison government for its management of our oceans and waterways! Well, they've done the exact opposite. Their record speaks for itself. Australia, under the previous Labor government, had the largest network of marine reserves in the world. Then, what did the Turnbull government do? They cut it in half. This government took the world's largest network of marine reserves—which are specifically dedicated to protecting the marine environment, to nurturing it to ensure that it grows—and what did they do? They cut it in half. How can you say you're protecting the marine network and our oceans when you cut marine reserves and conservation areas in half?

Not only did they do that; they then gave supertrawlers access to the Coral Sea to fish as much as they want—in one of the most fragile and delicate marine environments on our coastline. They cut back the marine reserve and then they said to the supertrawlers, 'Off you go!' And you know what those supertrawlers do: they suck up everything. They don't discriminate. They just chuck their nets out and haul everything in. And you guys think you're protecting our marine network! It's an absolute joke.

Then of course we've got the much-vaunted 2019 election promise to tackle plastic pollution in our oceans. Well, didn't that go well! We've seen an explosion in the amount of plastic off the coastline in our rivers in Australia, and nothing came of the 2019 election promise. Then, of course, we had the famous—the infamous—Great Barrier Reef $400 million funding given to an organisation that didn't even ask for it and, when they got the money, didn't know what to do with it. And you guys say that you're better at protecting our marine reserves! Oh my God!

But it gets better, because now we have this thing called PEP 11, petroleum export permit 11, an idea which this government is actually entertaining. PEP 11 will grant, believe it or not, oil and gas rigs off the coast of New South Wales, from Sydney all the way up to Nelson Bay. In some of our most precious marine environments, which literally tens of thousands of jobs in New South Wales rely on for tourism, for fishing and for hospitality, this government is entertaining allowing a company, a multinational company, to drill for oil and gas—five kilometres off the coast. And the government say that they are better at marine and ocean conservation! Even the New South Wales deputy premier, John Barilaro, has said this is a crazy idea. But do you think that the minister for resources has rejected it? Of course not. He's actually entertaining the idea. All the coastal communities up and down that area are opposed to it, and Labor has joined those coastal communities in calling on the minister to reject this ridiculous proposal, but this minister is still entertaining it.

In the electorate that I represent, Botany Bay is one of the most precious marine environments on the coast of New South Wales, and we all know how historically important Botany Bay is to Australia. But the New South Wales Liberal government is actively proposing to build a massive cruise ship terminal on the last remaining plot of beach on the northern side of Botany Bay. On the north side of Botany Bay, you've got Sydney Airport, you've got the port, you've got the oil refinery processors, you've got the breakwall and then there's a little bit of beach that's left, called Yarra Bay, and guess what the New South Wales government want to do? They want to build a cruise ship terminal there. 'Bugger that! We'll get rid of the rest of the sand and ocean there and we'll build a cruise ship terminal.'

It's actually a protected area for seagrass. The seagrass along Botany Bay was destroyed in the last dredging event, to build the third runway and expand the port. It has just started to come back. The University of New South Wales has had this seagrass sanctuary built; it has just started to come back. What do you reckon building a cruise ship terminal and dredging the bay would do to that? The weedy sea dragon and the pygmy pipehorse, which are protected species—and their sanctuaries—will be gone, not to mention the whales, the turtles, the fairy penguins and the seal colonies that exist around that area.

And they say that they are better on ocean conservation! It is an absolute joke when you look at their record—cutting back marine reserves, Great Barrier Reef management, PEP 11 and a cruise ship terminal at Yarra Bay. This motion is nothing more than a joke.

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