Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to speak briefly today about a matter of great interest and importance to my electorate of Fremantle. As members may be aware, the government is currently conducting the new and far-reaching Marine Bioregional Planning Process. This will result in marine bioregional plans being established around Australia under the umbrella of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act and is in keeping with the commitment made in 1998 by all Australian governments to create a national system of marine protected areas. I am very pleased to say that the first area under consideration is the south-west region, which runs from Kangaroo Island in South Australia right around to the seas off Kalbarri in Western Australia, and of course it includes the marine environment adjacent to the Fremantle electorate.

Fremantle has a longstanding and varied engagement with the marine environment that forms its western boundary, and that encompasses Rottnest Island. The sea off Fremantle is enjoyed on a daily basis by thousands of Western Australians and it is plied by recreational vessels, fishing craft and the full range of shipping that makes use of Fremantle Port. It is also the focus of tourism, especially at Rottnest Island, and of a considerable fishing and maritime industry. The south-west region is a marine environment of great significance. To give just some idea of its special qualities: 70 to 90 per cent of the marine species found in this region are unique; the region includes critical habitats for the world’s largest animal, the endangered blue whale—Perth Canyon, for example, which is Australia’s largest marine canyon, is one of only two known feeding grounds for the blue whale in Australian waters; and the region is strongly influenced by the warm Leeuwin Current, which is the longest running continuous coastal current in the world, at some 5,500 kilometres in length.

The Save Our Marine Life group, which represents a range of organisations—namely, the Conservation Council of Western Australia, the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Pew Environment Group, the Nature Conservancy, WWF Australia and the Australian Marine Conservation Society—is working very hard to advocate on behalf of improved marine environmental management and protection in Western Australia. Save Our Marine Life’s first report, entitled Protecting Western Australia’s big blue backyard, argues persuasively for the creation of substantial no-take marine reserves. It is worth noting that less than one per cent of the region is currently protected by any kind of marine protection designation or area. An appropriate and much-needed increase in protected areas will not only secure the health of Western Australian oceans for the long-term but also improve the non-extractive uses in those areas including diving, ecotourism, scientific study, education and training, and recreational boating.

Last week I was very pleased to be present when the Save our Marine Life group presented the minister for the environment with thousands of postcards signed by Western Australians who support a Western Australian protected marine area. Once the national system of marine bioregional plans is in place we will have a secure basis for the sustainable enjoyment and protection of our oceans, and all the creatures in them, and I know this will be very welcome in my electorate of Fremantle.