Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

It is my pleasure to second the motion. I commend the member for Warringah on this bill. It reminds me of my first term in parliament, when we spent much of that time fighting big oil in the Great Australian Bight. Our community in Mayo, in fact many of the communities across the coastal areas of South Australia, were deeply concerned about that. What we knew was that it was in an area of incredibly high risk and remoteness. Drilling at a depth of 2½ kilometres in pristine wilderness—at what point are we going to say no? At what point do we put the environment and people ahead of big oil?

I am going to use my last couple of minutes to share that story. I hope it provides some relief to the people who are fighting PEP11. It can be done.

Initially BP and Chevron wanted to drill in the Great Australian Bight. There was huge community pressure. Our community did not let up. We had paddle-outs and constant hands across the sand. Environmental charities came together, whether they were the Wilderness Society or Greenpeace. We had people from all political persuasions—Senator Hanson-Young, a senator in the other place, and Leon Bignell, the state member for Mawson in South Australia. He's a Labor member of parliament. Despite the Labor Party in South Australia and here not coming out on it, Leon stuck to his guns and fought hard. Leon actually went to Norway to petition the Norwegian government. I wrote to every member of the Norwegian government, because, once we got rid of BP, Equinor came in.

The problem is that the exploration licences continue to sit there. That's where the great risk is. That is what Zali's bill is fighting for. We actually need to cancel these licences. It was a good day in February 2020 when, after huge public pressure, Equinor decided to step out of oil exploration drilling in the bight. But those licences should never have been there, just like they shouldn't be there for off the coast of New South Wales, which is a pristine part of our coastline. We market Australia as the great beach and a huge island, yet we're prepared to risk that just for big oil.

What do we need to happen in the Great Australian Bight? We still need World Heritage protection. We have a remote area of enormous marine biodiversity. Like PEP11, it's an area where whales come to calve. I commend this bill to the House. Good on you, Member for Warringah. We need more conviction in this place and fewer donations.

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