Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

No, that is not the issue. I fail to see why people are so scared of what is, I think, a very sensible process to enable further discussion about putting in place, in the future, a marine protected area. This will ensure the protection of not only the conservation values, which are very high for this area, but also the significant heritage values of the Coral Sea. People would be well aware of the heritage values of the Coral Sea, particularly as a result of the Second World War. I understand there are heritage values there from the First World War. Matthew Flinders had a historical association with the area as well.

This area is important not only from a heritage perspective but, particularly, from a conservation perspective. This proposal is for temporary measures to be put in place for the period of discussion about the extent of boundaries and more accurate detailing of boundaries for a marine protected area into the future. We do not support this disallowance, because we do not believe that the scare campaign developed around this conservation zone should scare the community away from ensuring effective conservation for this area into the future. As I said, this conservation zone is put in place while we have that discussion. It does not threaten current recreational or commercial fishing. I have heard various comments like, ‘You won’t be able to take on deckhands.’ I think they are all furphies—some people simply do not want to see marine protection in this very important area. Our marine environment is under desperate threat around the world. We need to take this issue very seriously and ensure that Australia protects its highly important and highly biodiverse marine areas.