Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I also want to make a couple of remarks on the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and to congratulate the authority for the work that it has done over a long period of time. I also want to draw the Senate’s attention to the significant effort the Liberal Party and Liberal governments have put into saving one of Australia’s iconic natural assets. The reef authority was set up under previous Liberal governments and it was Liberal governments that saved Fraser Island many years ago. So two of the very special natural iconic features of my own state of Queensland are places that have been protected and preserved by Liberal governments in the past. As Senator Bartlett generously mentioned, our government did take a lot of flak—and a lot of flak from our own side, I might say—on some extensions to the marine park that occurred last year. I have some hesitations about the way that was done, and I do not want to rehash things that are now over and finished. The compensation paid to fishermen was appropriate but is getting very large.

All of that aside, we certainly do have a great natural asset in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. I would be very interested to see, now that Senator McLucas is a senior member of the government, whether the marine park is extended into the Coral Sea, as Senator Bartlett just reminded us. I think, as with many things in the Labor Party, it was pretty easy for them to make fairly attractive statements in opposition but now they are in government they have many things to look at. They are finding it much more difficult to actually meet their rhetoric. So I look with interest, Senator McLucas, at your proposal for the extension of the marine park. I will be very interested to see Mr Garrett and the Treasurer bringing that issue forward.

The marine park authority now has a skills based board. I think that the board in recent times has been a very good one. Until recently it was well led by Virginia Chadwick. I wish Virginia well in her retirement. This report that we are discussing today was delivered during her term as Chairman of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. I wish Dr Russell Reichelt every success as he now takes on the leadership role in the authority.

The authority does fabulous work in protecting and preserving the reef—not just for conservation’s sake; fishing is still an important industry in the reef area and that should never be forgotten. Of course, the tourism industry in my state of Queensland is, to a very large degree, dependent on the Great Barrier Reef, and huge amounts of employment are created by tourist activities on the Great Barrier Reef. The challenge is always to make sure that you can exploit the Great Barrier Reef in a commercial way through tourism but at the same time ensure that it is protected and preserved, and that the human footprint does not in any way take away from the very fragile ecology of the reef.

There is a concern about global warming and the impact it will have on the reef. I am no scientist but it is certainly something that we have to be very careful of. The reef is a living organism; it is something that I would hope would change with nature. As I say, that is more a matter for the scientists. But I do know that it is a matter that the park authority board are very carefully monitoring at this time and doing what they can to ensure that this great icon of Australia continues in all its glory for centuries to come.