Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I was taught at school that Australia's highest peak was Mount Kosciuszko. Wrong! If you include the Australian territories, Big Ben on Heard Island is actually Australia's highest peak. Not only that; it's an active volcano. I my electorate of Boothby, I recently attended the showing of the documentary Ice and Fire about the beautiful Heard and McDonald islands, situated 4,000 kilometres south of the Australian mainland. The title Ice and Fire refers to the spectacular images of Big Ben spewing red-hot lava onto its pristine snow covered slopes.

These islands are UNESCO World Heritage listed and are home to penguins, seals, petrels and albatross, and the surrounding waters are home to many unique cold-water, deepwater fish and marine life. The 2024 South Australian of the year, adventurer Tim Jarvis, also spoke to a packed audience about the impact of climate change on the islands, the rapid shrinking of glaciers and the impact of the changing environment on the wildlife.

In July this year, Minister Tanya Plibersek announced a massive expansion of the protected waters around these islands—an extra 300,000 square kilometres of ocean. This is part of the Albanese Labor government's '30 by 30' commitment: 30 per cent of the land and 30 per cent of the ocean to be protected by 2030. I'd like to thank the Pew Charitable Trusts for their work of publicising the importance of protecting these islands and Minister Plibersek for protecting our wonderful environment.

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