Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In addressing the annual report for 2012-13 of the Director of National Parks, I want to use the opportunity to place on record the thanks of the Senate, the parliament, the government and, I am sure, the previous government to Mr Peter Cochrane, the former Director of National Parks, who served in that distinguished role in an admirable capacity for more than 10 years. He was appointed by former environment minister Senator Robert Hill and served through the entire duration of the previous government and into the new government. Peter Cochrane did a remarkable job during that time of managing Australia's National Parks estate—in particular, the terrestrial national parks owned and maintained by the Commonwealth, for which he had responsibility. Mr Cochrane oversaw the continued development, preservation and successful maintenance of sites such as Kakadu in the Northern Territory; Uluru in the Northern Territory; the national parks on Christmas Island, Norfolk Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands; Booderee National Park at Jervis Bay; and the Australian National Botanical Gardens here in the ACT. He also assumed responsibilities in that time for our marine reserves and, in doing so, was obviously crucial to the initial work and management as the Commonwealth took steps in that space.

Mr Cochrane oversaw early arrangements for the planning of the World Parks Congress that will be held in Australia late this year. I have no doubt that, with his expertise, skills and background from his many years of service, particularly his time as the Director of National Parks, he will be playing a key role in that World Parks Congress later this year. I thank Peter for his wonderful service and advice to many different ministers and parliamentary secretaries, for the way he conducted himself at Senate estimates and for the service he has given to Australia and, in particular, those parks.

We now welcome the appointment of Ms Sally Barnes to the position of Director of National Parks. Sally started in the role this week. She was selected from a very competitive process and brings wonderful experience as a former head of the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service and as former head of the New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage. I really look forward to working with Sally as the new Director of National Parks. She and I have already discussed some of the government's priorities for national parks. As a government, we will work extremely hard to ensure the terrestrial national parks we manage as part of Australia's national reserve system are a showcase for the best possible management of threatened species, for the best possible success in preserving those threatened species, and for the best possible examples of managing invasive species and reducing their impact across the estate. In that regard, I note in particular some of Peter Cochrane's achievements in advancing the management, and the science underpinning that management, of the blight of yellow crazy ants that have hit Christmas Island National Park over the years and have had a particular impact on the red crab species at Christmas Island.

Sally and I, in addition to discussing those aspects, have talked about the importance of driving the tourism benefit from national parks. Obviously Uluru and Kakadu are fine national icons, but sadly over recent years they have seen declining visitation. It is important to the tourism industry, to the Northern Territory government, to Northern Territory people, and, in particular, to the traditional owners of Uluru and Kakadu that we turn around that tourism decline and that we rebuild visitation in those parks to create the economic opportunities, the employment opportunities, the job opportunities and the future prosperity that the traditional owners in those settings should have—just as it is important to grow tourism opportunities and visitation in the other national parks in order to improve local economic capacity for the people in those regions and islands.

I commend the annual report, I commend Peter Cochrane and I look forward to working with Sally Barnes as Director of National Parks. (Time expired)

Cory Bernardi (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Firstly, I associate myself with the remarks of Senator Birmingham in acknowledging the outstanding service that this parliament has received from the Director of National Parks and I also welcome the new Director of National Parks. But I will comment specifically about the best way in which we, as a parliament, can respond to the urge to protect the diversity of our species and our national parks and get maximum use of them. That, as Senator Birmingham made reference to, is to ensure they have an economic value as well as an environmental value. In places like Christmas Island it means dealing with things that threaten the migration of the red crabs. It is a great tourist attraction and a unique spectacle unlike anything anywhere in the world. It is just extraordinary. But, where they are threatened by—and I will stand corrected—the yellow crazy ants that Senator Birmingham referred to, it is an important mandate to save the red crabs and to stop them being threatened, not just from an environmental perspective but from a commercial and economic perspective. By attaching an economic benefit to it, we are going to foster greater strength in our environmental movement and we are going to foster a greater regard and respect for our national parks service. That way, not only will there be a financial incentive for people to look after their national parks and treasure their national parks, there will also be a good case to be made for government to continue to invest in them—because of the economic benefits.

A lot of work has been done in our national parks by volunteer organisations and non-government organisations. Just the other day I was approached by a group of people who are interested in re-establishing a colony—I will use that term although I am not sure if it is entirely accurate—of quolls in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. They were going to take an existing colony of quolls from Western Australia and relocate them to South Australia to re-establish the quoll community.

Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time for consideration of government documents has now expired.