Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Hansard source

One wonders, Senator Bernardi. It is a wonder that there would be room left to be more extreme than Mr Garrett’s and the ACF’s position in that regard, but what I would say is that for the Australian Greens to have come into this chamber with this motion just goes to show how out of touch they are. They would be willing with this motion to throw 3½ thousand people out of work in Port Lincoln. Earlier today they would have closed down coalmines and, of course, reimbursed the workers. We are not going to be able to reimburse the sacked workers out of the taxes raised from the southern bluefin tuna industry anymore because we would be closing the industry down as well. The Australian Greens have to come clean and tell the Australian people exactly how they are going to fund all these kooky policies, or perhaps they are willing to ensure that every single Australian lives in poverty whilst we have a burgeoning environment around us.

All around the world the lesson is that, when you have poverty, you have the worst environmental management. Having a good, sound, rich economy, as we have at the moment, allows us to fund environmental issues, including remediation. That is why Australia is able to have the marine protected areas that she now boasts and the forest reserves that she now boasts whilst maintaining sensible wild sea harvesting and sensible native forest harvesting. We are getting the balance right and, rather than continuing the anger of that which may have been relevant 20 or 30 years ago, I invite those Green activists to take away their views of the world as it was in the 1970s, come into the 21st century and ask themselves, ‘Have things changed; are things balanced?’ and what they will find is a much, much better world, a much friendlier world and a much nicer world than they would seek to portray to the rest of the community. Just in case Senator Siewert is in any doubt, the government will be opposing her motion.