Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I rise to take note of the Minister for Immigrations and Border Protection Mr Morrison's document and I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

Sadly, just like clockwork every summer, we see Japanese whaling fleets leaving their northern homes to head for the Southern Ocean to a very special place on the planet. The oceans surrounding Antarctica are not just special because they are so pristine and untouched by mankind; they are absolutely essential to the ecosystem on this planet and the creatures that live in the ocean—from the top of the food chain, the biggest animals on the planet, all the way down to the krill and food in the ocean. That is why whales migrate south to the ocean and that is why there is a whale sanctuary down there. We have been to the beach in summer and seen the whales' spouts out on the horizons, or seen the whales frolicking off our coastlines in Australia. We now know that over millions of years they have gone down there with calves to feed, and then migrate north again.

Because this ocean is so abundant and so rich it is very important from a fisheries perspective and from a conservation perspective. That is why Australia has taken a very important leadership role globally in declaring a whale sanctuary in the waters surrounding Antarctica. We have claimed other parts of the Southern Ocean. While I agree that many countries do not respect those claims, nevertheless they are still very important to our sovereignty. There is absolutely no doubt that in the future this issue will continue to build and be a potential flashpoint for this country because those waters and the abundance of sea life and the ecosystems they support are going to be very important food sources.

The fact that Japanese whaling boats go to the Southern Ocean to slaughter whales under the disguise of so-called scientific research—and this has never been accepted by successive governments in Australia and has never been accepted by the Australian people—is not just because they want to collect whale meat and sell whale meat but also because they want to make a clear statement that this is the global commons and that they can access it at will. Australia can do more to prevent whaling in the Southern Ocean. We have an international court decision coming soon but we do not know whether the decision will be respected by conservationists like the Sea Shepherd or by the Japanese, depending which way it goes. We could debate for hours here tonight whether it should be accepted if you believe in the conservation of whales.

The government had a very clear policy on this. I remember standing at the Sea Shepherd dock in Hobart congratulating our Minister for the Environment, Greg Hunt, on his very clear policy to send the Ocean Protector, our Customs-built vessel. It is ice rated and there was a $150 million bill for taxpayers. It was designed for the Southern Ocean and to be sped off Macquarie Island. It is up in the northern waters acting as a water taxi under the government's Sovereign Borders campaign. It needs to go south to Macquarie Island and do the job it was intended to do. The coalition have highlighted in their whaling policy very clearly sending the Ocean Protectortoprevent blood in the waters from whaling. It also needs to stop illegal fishing. We know there is an illegal fishing boat down there at the moment. These are very big issues. They certainly need the scrutiny of this place, the parliament, because whaling and illegal fishing are very important issues for the Australian people.

Question agreed to.