Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Settlement) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to present a petition that has been found to be in order by the Standing Committee on Petitions and which has been signed by 6,272 Australians.

The petition read as follows—

TO THE HONOURABLE THE SPEAKER AND MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

This petition of concerned Australian residents, and sustainable users of our marine resources, draws to the attention of the House of Representatives the proposed network of marine parks throughout Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone. The current process of establishing marine park boundaries has failed to include genuine consultation, and has failed to recognise that Australian fisheries are already amongst the healthiest and best managed in the world, as highlighted in the latest Commonwealth Fish Status report released November 2011.

We ask the House of Representatives to urge the Government to halt the current process of establishing marine parks and to ensure that any future marine park boundaries are:

from 6,272 citizens.

Petition received.

The petition, which has become known as the 'voice your choice petition', draws the attention of the House to the government's proposed network of marine parks throughout Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone.

The current process of establishing marine park boundaries has failed to include genuine consultation and has failed to recognise that Australian fisheries are already among the healthiest and best managed in the world, as highlighted in the latest Commonwealth Fishery Status Reports released in November 2011.

These 6,272 Australians ask the House to urge the government to halt the current process of establishing marine parks and to ensure that any future marine park boundaries be based on science, and that this science be made available to all stakeholders; be based on assessments of all risks to the environment by marine activities; be accompanied by socio-economic research to show impacts on commercial fisheries, charter businesses, recreational anglers, and associated communities and industries, including tourism; be based on appropriate consultation with relevant stakeholders; and be considerate of Australia's future food security needs.

There are some alarmist myths emanating from the Greens and Minister Burke about this issue that need to be debunked. Let's deal with the facts. First, we do not need to lock up our oceans to protect them. Second, there is no doubt that we need to conserve our oceans and be conscious of breeding grounds and seasons to sensibly harvest the seas. Our fishing industry understands this only too well and is at the forefront of managing sustainable fisheries. Third, Australia's fisheries are among the best managed in the world. We have legislation that deals specifically with environmental protection and the conservation of biodiversity, as well as with fisheries management.

So how and why has all of this happened? We cannot be duped by fake frowns and hand-wringing from people like Minister Burke and the Greens. Make no mistake, this lock-out is about political science not real science. This is all about that fact that the Prime Minster and Labor will do anything and everything they can to stay in power—and that means paying homage to and lying down to the agenda of the extreme Greens. Something stinks here and it is not the fish.

As a measure of just how desperate Labor is to stay in power, the Australian Marine Alliance has undertaken peer reviewed analysis of the economic impacts of this science-free decision, and here are some horrifying comparisons from that modelling. Under the lock-out, 1.5 million square kilometres will be closed versus 6.8 million square kilometres that are already being effectively managed. This measure will lose $4.35 billion in revenue, whereas without it you would have the $4.35 billion as well as the benefits from an economic multiplier of 1 to 3. This will impact on 60 regional communities. There will be 36,000 jobs lost instead of 36,000 jobs saved—and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

This analysis and the signatures of 6,272 Australians were not enough to prove just how out of touch Minister Burke and Labor are on this issue. The minister covered himself in the glory of his own incompetence with his comments on this issue in the House on Tuesday this week when he falsely accused Senator Boyce of using fake information and deliberately using an incorrect map to illustrate the vast amount of Queensland's marine resources that this government is locking up in marine parks. Apparently, the minister was not even aware that the map that was being referred to comes from his department's own website. And in case the minister is still unaware of those details the address for that website is www.environment.gov.au/coasts/mbp/reserves/index.html.

But Minister Burke's lack of knowledge on this issue does not stop there. The minister has repeatedly claimed that the proposed marine reserve network will displace only $11.1 million worth of commercial fishing production per annum, just over one per cent of annual catch. But 36,000 jobs will be lost. The industry will take a $4.3 billion hit. This is something that a responsible government should be concerned about. The minister and Labor should be on notice that— (Time expired)