Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

A major environmental catastrophe, on a global scale, is still unfolding on the ecologically significant coast of southern Queensland. It comes from the fact that the motor vessel Pacific Adventurer, of more than 100 metres with some 50 containers of ammonium nitrate stored on and above its decks, sailed north from Newcastle after there had been a great deal of publicity about category 5 Cyclone Hamish off the Queensland coast and continued to steam north into seas affected by that cyclone. Last Wednesday morning, at approximately 3.20, 31 of the 50 containers off the deck of the ship went into the ocean. I do not know whether that was by deliberate intent to save the ship or whether it was because the containers came loose and were effectively catapulted into the ocean. One of those containers then rammed into the ship, smashing part of its hull and releasing fuel oil into the ocean for some seven nautical miles, or 13 kilometres, off Cape Moreton. The details of what happened then are unclear, but we do know that what was then thought to be a 20-tonne spill of this toxic oil has become, according to the Deputy Premier of Queensland, a 250-tonne spill of oil. Most of that is on the pristine beaches of Moreton Island, Bribie Island and the Sunshine Coast to the north.

The question is: why on earth did this ship leave Newcastle and steam into what we now know to be conditions it could not handle as a result of the cyclone coming south? Its command and its company and the maritime authorities in Australia knew before the ship left Newcastle that there was a category 5 cyclone off the Queensland coast. I have not been able to ascertain whether the ship was due to call into Brisbane, but anyway it was en route to Indonesia with some 300 or 500 tonnes of ammonium nitrate to be used as part of an explosive facility for the Indonesian mining industry.

The first questions one might ask are: how much ammonium nitrate is being sold to Indonesia, under what circumstances and with what assurances of safety, given the history of the abuse of ammonium nitrate that there may have been in Indonesia? This is, of itself, a serious question that must go to the authorities. That said, how could a ship that was sailing to Indonesia sail directly into the path of a cyclone which is at the top category of seriousness? According to the Queensland government:

During cyclone activity, ships are ordered out to sea away from the port. Being out to sea is the safest place for a large ship to be during cyclone activity. The ship was travelling under normal coastal shipping protocols within ship navigation lanes. The conditions at sea were not considered to be significant enough to prevent commercial shipping movements.

I ask: ‘not considered’ by whom? There are two entities here: one is the national shipping authorities and the other is the shipping corporation itself, the owners of the ship.

On the second matter, if you look at the details about this ship, you will find that they are proud to announce that they have very sophisticated communications with head office around the clock. I presume that means in London, although it may mean in Hong Kong. Whatever the case, the shipping company itself was fully aware of this ship, its cargo, that cyclone and these circumstances presumably on a minute by minute basis, but it did not act to prevent this disaster from unfolding. The same may be said of the national authorities. Who was monitoring this ship? Who allowed it to leave Newcastle loaded with dangerous chemicals and a huge supply of oil and sail into those foul weather conditions? I suspect no-one. I suspect that national shipping surveillance is such that it is simply left to the commercial operators to make these decisions. That is unforgivable and unacceptable for this nation, with its 12,000 kilometres of fantastic coastlines, in an age where we have seen repeated oil and chemical spills from the oceans end up on the shores of this country. This is 20 years after Exxon Valdez, and it seems that the government—or at least the authorities over which it has command—were asleep when this ship left Newcastle and were asleep when it sailed into the cyclone affected waters.

I went to Moreton Island on Friday and saw there the massive oil spill washing up into the rocky canyons below Cape Moreton and then onto the adjacent beach. From the helicopter, I saw in the 20-kilometre spill spreading along the coastline perhaps a dozen or 20—maybe there were more than that, I do not know, but I doubt it—people with rakes and buckets. This was 2½ days after the spill occurred and at least two days after the oil spill had been noted in the ocean by a number of aircraft. We have to ask if that is okay. The answer is no. There has to be some form of culpability that there could have been so little activity in the wake of a known environmental disaster. The shipping company said 20 or 30 tonnes at the outset, and we now know from the Deputy Premier of Queensland that it was 10 times that amount. All of this will be subject to an inquiry.

This ship was heading up past the Great Barrier Reef. Where this oil spill has occurred is a total disaster. There are at least people there with buckets. These are terrific, good-hearted people. I spoke to them. The word that kept coming up was ‘despondent’, because they were dealing with something far bigger than their wherewithal, but they wanted to protect the ecosystem on Moreton Island. I have no doubt the same applied elsewhere. With this large amount of oil coming ashore, why was there not much faster action? I am told there are 300 people on the island today, but why was that not so on Friday?