Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to amend general business of motion No. 1321 standing in my name for today relating to the Ramsar convention by adding paragraph (d).

Leave granted.

I move the amended motion:

That the Senate—

(a) notes the significance of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention), an intergovernmental treaty, which centres on the concept of ‘wise use’ to promote the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands and their resources, through ecosystem approaches, for the benefit of humankind, and specifically that:

(i) the Ramsar Convention aims are to halt the worldwide loss of wetlands and to conserve through ‘wise use’ management those that remain, and

(ii) that ‘wise use’ means the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands and their resources for the benefit of humankind;

(b) acknowledges that:

(i) the Ramsar Convention stresses the importance of maintaining ‘ecological character’ and that this should be done for the peoples’ benefit, and

(ii) the natural environment has inherent value, and value in relation to peoples’ relationship and interaction with it;

(c) supports the wise use of wetlands; and

(d) congratulates Field and Game Australia for the conservation of the Heart Morass, the largest habitat conservation project in Australia.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the motion moved by Senator McKenzie be agreed to.

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like the Senate to note that over the last two days the Labor Party, along with their alliance partners the Greens, have voted against noting three international agreements that we are signatories to and that support sustainable environmental protection. I think it is worth noting. They are: CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora; the Convention on Biological Diversity; and the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, the Ramsar convention.