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

The government opposes the amendment. The bill currently before the Senate implements the priority recommendations from the review of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975 to improve governance, transparency and accountability. The bill provides for all authority board members to be appointed on the basis of relevant experience and expertise and not be representational. This aligns with the principles of good governance articulated in the Uhrig review a few years ago. There continues to be a capacity to appoint authority members with expertise in Indigenous issues.

The Australian government acknowledges the importance of Indigenous issues in management and protection of the Great Barrier Reef. The review panel met with the authority’s board, including the current Indigenous member. There were 21 Indigenous organisations invited to participate in the review. No requests to meet or submissions were received. Important and effective mechanisms have been introduced in the past decade and provide for comprehensive engagement and partnership with Indigenous communities and their active participation in the protection and management of the Great Barrier Reef. For example, Indigenous persons are a key membership group for the 11 local marine advisory committees. The four reef advisory committees must each have Indigenous representation when one considers Indigenous issues.

Traditional use of marine resource agreements is another example. Indigenous interests will be represented on the new advisory board. I can understand that there is a difference of approach in relation to this matter and, if I might say to honourable senators, they were canvassed in the second reading speeches. The arguments are now out on the table. Senator Bartlett is correct. There were time constraints on me in doing the summing up of the second reading speech and, therefore, I may well have only devoted one sentence to the issue that he has now raised in the committee stage. That is why I have taken the opportunity of giving a more detailed and a fuller explanation than I did on the previous occasion.