Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

within 100 kilometres of the coast and to 80 per cent of the marine park network overall. This is an increase in access, up from just 64 per cent under Labor, and represents an additional 400,000 square kilometres accessible for recreational fishing. But this is done by careful management and by ensuring higher levels of protection for the most highly valued areas of our marine parks, whilst ensuring access to those who rightly deserve it, where it can be done sustainably. Equally, when it comes to commercial fishing, we recognise the significant role of this billion-dollar industry to Australia, but we want to make sure their access is restricted in a way that sensibly allows continued investment in that industry whilst protecting key ecological and environmental factors in our marine environments.