Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Pursuant to order, I present the report of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee: Australia's future activities and responsibilities in the Southern Ocean and Antarctic waters together with the Hansard record of proceedings and documents presented to committee.

Ordered that the report be printed.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

I am pleased to table this report of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee into Australia's future activities and responsibilities in the Southern Ocean and Antarctic waters. The inquiry was referred to the committee in March 2014. We received 23 submissions and held public hearings in Hobart and Canberra in September 2014. In Hobart we visited the headquarters of the Australian Antarctic Division and toured both the AAD research and supply ship Aurora Australis and the new CSIRO marine research vessel the RV Investigator. These visits were very informative and the committee was extremely grateful to AAD and CSIRO staff who facilitated them for us.

In its inquiry the committee heard that Australia is a world leader in the Southern Ocean and Antarctic waters. We have a unique geographical proximity, we exercise an expansive sovereignty through our Antarctic and island territories, we are a major player in science and fisheries and, importantly, we are responsible under international law for search and rescue in a vast ocean area. Australia's leadership, however, is not assured. Interest and activity from other nations in Antarctica and its waters is growing at a time when Australian investment in personnel, science and operations is declining. Scientists have discovered that the Southern Ocean plays a major role in predicting and influencing climate change in Australia and globally, but our capacity to undertake research is diminishing, and our world-best expertise is at risk of being lost. Australian authorities are trying to counter an increasing threat from illegal fishing and the impact the growing Antarctic tourism has on search and rescue demands with inadequate maritime resources for patrol in response. After a significant victory in the International Court of Justice earlier this year against Japan's lethal whaling Australia's planned response to the threat of its resumption is unclear.

Meeting all these demands is difficult and is also expensive, however, it is clear to the committee that significant Australian interests are at stake. In short, the committee believes that the continued Australian leadership in the Southern Ocean and Antarctic waters is worth the investment. The government should place importance on our interests in the area and restore the resources necessary to support them.

The committee's report offers 18 practical recommendations to protect and promote Australia's key interests in the Southern Ocean and Antarctic waters. These include: that the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service be tasked to recommence regular maritime patrols in the Southern Ocean, which it has not done since 2012, starting with at least 240-day patrols in each of the next two financial years; that the government commits to continued funding for the Southern Ocean research partnership, an Australian-led international initiative on non-lethal whale research, and invites Japan to join the program; that Antarctic and Southern Ocean science be appropriately supported into the future through long-term assured funding linked to national priorities with a comprehensive review of the budget of the Australian Antarctic Division, recognising its special needs as recommended in the recently released 20 year Australian Antarctic strategic plan; that steps be taken to ensure that the RV Investigator is able to be used to its full potential by spending 300 days per year at sea; that an interagency review of Australia's marine assets be undertaken, with consideration of a national fleet approach to make better use of them, and the potential acquisition of new patrol capacity suitable for the Southern Ocean; and the continued pursuit of a dedicated Commonwealth-Tasmania strategy to maximise Hobart's potential as an international Antarctic gateway. Finally, the committee has recommended the creation of an Australian Antarctic and Southern Ocean ambassador. That person would draw much needed attention and support to Australia's interests to our south as well as providing a focal point for coordinating whole-of-government policy and international engagement in this area.

The committee was impressed by the passion and commitment shown by the many people we met who work in various ways in the Southern Ocean and in Antarctica. Their work is challenging and often goes unnoticed, but is extremely valuable to Australia and represents a sector of national excellence of which we should be very proud. The committee hopes this report will help to highlight the importance of that work and to ensure that it attracts support needed to remain an Australian flagship into the future.

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

I want to thank all members of the committee and say how grateful the Greens and I were that we had such an excellent set of hearings with tripartisan support for most of the issues that were discussed. We had fantastic cooperation from the Australian Antarctic Division, the CSIRO and the science community in Hobart. We were lucky enough to tour the facilities, meet the scientists, have a look at their various research programs in detail and meet the people who decked out and managed the logistics of the personnel operating in Antarctica. I think it was a very tangible experience for senators to actually go to Tasmania and meet the good people who are doing so much good work, particularly in the area of climate science.

Australia has a very long and proud history in the Antarctic. We are all familiar with the epic journeys of our early explorers and the sovereignty that Australia has over this enormous stretch of ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Australia's areas within the Antarctic itself. We are a leader. We have been a leader for decades now in and around Antarctica in areas such as science, particularly marine science and climate change science.

The Greens initiated this inquiry. Once again, I am thankful for the support we had to get the inquiry up. Around the time we initiated the inquiry, we were not aware that, coincidentally, Professor Tony Press was doing a report for the government—a 20-year strategic review. That tells you that it has been a long time since we in this country have looked at the Southern Ocean and Antarctica and taken a holistic view on our strategy in relation to not just the logistical support of operations down there but what we need to do to maintain sovereignty of the area and other challenges, opportunities and threats surrounding the Antarctic into the future. Being a Tasmanian, obviously I am very familiar with the importance of the Antarctic Division to my state. The thousands of scientists, their families and the support networks around them are absolutely crucial for the community down there and they are absolutely crucial to the economy.

I am very pleased not just with the quality of the witnesses and submissions that the inquiry received but also with the recommendations. There are a number of very strong recommendations here right across the board. I note Senator Macdonald is in the chamber today and he may wish to comment on areas such as patrolling the Southern Ocean. That is something he has been actively involved with before. It became very obvious to me in the last 18 months from asking questions in estimates and trying to get more information on exactly what we do in the Southern Ocean that very little was going on. Very few assets, as they are called, be they military or otherwise, were being deployed down to the area. We had very little capability, with isolated vessels and aircraft capable of the duration to go to the Antarctic let alone land there. It seems to me that I have been watching the size of the science community in Hobart shrink over the years, particularly with recent budget cuts. This inquiry was a very good opportunity to highlight the good work that they do. I know Senator Carr, who is also in the chamber, has been very involved with CSIRO over the years and knows exactly how important that science community is to Tasmania.

I commend the report's strong recommendations. As Senator Gallacher said, there are 18. They are all important. The Greens do have two additional comments that I want to go through, and I will finish at that. There is no business case around the extension of the Hobart runway, which was this government's promise, and it seems there are no fruitful negotiations around the use of that runway. That is nearly $40 million sitting there that is not being used. We did some back-of-the-envelope calculations. The RV Investigator, the new CSIRO ship sitting down in Hobart, only has funding for 180 days but it was earmarked for 300. If we took the runway extension funding allocation and temporarily redirected it to allow the RV Investigator to go to sea, at $140,000 per day running costs we could nearly fill that gap of 120 days for the next three years. Of course, we would still like to see that extension to the runway done when it is needed from infrastructure pools of funds, but at the moment it does not look like there are any takers for that. We still have issues with the Wilkins Runway and its capacity in Antarctica which need to be addressed as well.

The second additional comment we made was on something that became obvious from our witnesses. We received this in a submission from a very experienced Antarctica science stakeholder from the University of Tasmania, Professor Matt King. It was his view—and we certainly supported it—that a significant portion of the Australian Antarctic Division budget should be ring-fenced for science and associated logistic support. We estimated around 20 per cent of the overall AAD budget would be suitable. We would like to see that budget ring-fenced and given priority.

We would, of course, like to see more funding to go to science. There have been cuts over a number of years. We tend to see emphasis put on assets rather than on personnel, but this is critically important to the economy of Tasmania. It is critically important to our understanding of climate change and how it impacts on all Australians. Much of the cutting-edge work on climate science is being done down in the Southern Ocean, and that is directly relevant to things such as our temperature fluctuations, extreme weather events et cetera that we have in Australia.

I commend the committee's recommendations to the Senate and I look forward, now that this is on the radar and that the government has agreed with a number of these recommendations—I said it was tripartisan—to continuing to give the Antarctic Division in the Southern Ocean the prominence it deserves and has had in the past and endeavouring to continue to grow the scientific community in my state and Australia's global leadership—I will say those two words again: global leadership—in key areas of climate science. Much of that is done down in the Southern Ocean, particularly down in the sea ice around Antarctica.

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I congratulate the committee on their work and their report. I also—Dare I say it? Dare the words pass my lips?—congratulate the Greens on raising this issue and initiating this inquiry. The report is a very good one. It is very well prepared and well argued. It covers many of the issues that are important to Australian—indeed to the world—relating to the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic mainland.

Antarctica, and all things associated with it, is another area where Australia punches well above its weight. Australia has been, and has been recognised as, one of the world leaders in Antarctic science for many years. The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources is based in Hobart. It is an international body that deals with Antarctic marine living resources, as its name suggests. That aspect—being a worldwide organisation—attracts a lot of attention and a lot of world-class scientists to Hobart, which helps build upon the Australian domestic work on Antarctica. I have always had a very high regard for the Australian Antarctic Division and that regard remains unabated. They do a wonderful job, as do all of the associated research entities in Australia—mainly in Tasmania—in supporting the work on the Antarctic continent and in the Southern Ocean.

For me, going to the Hobart hearings was like a return home to the family. It was lovely to see, so many years after I was more closely involved, the same people there with the same passion for the Antarctic and the Southern Ocean. I will name just a few. It was great to see Professor Tony Press there, as well as Professor Denzil Miller, Mark Exel and Alistair Graham—who did not actually give evidence but who was the man who first excited my interest in the Southern Ocean and the Patagonian toothfish issue those many years ago. It was great to see Alistair there. I always say to him—and you would appreciate this, Acting Deputy President Whish-Wilson—that I consider him to be a close friend notwithstanding his close association with the Greens. He has been passionate about this area for many years. I also see that Mr Peter Venslovas gave evidence. Peter, when I knew him, was the AFMA officer who dealt with enforcement issues. Many years ago, when the Australian government had a major campaign against illegal fishing for toothfish in the Southern Ocean, he was at the forefront of that campaign to enforce Australian and international rules.

The scientific work done by Australia across all fields of Antarctic and Southern Ocean research is significant. That is recognised. As you did in your contribution, Mr Acting Deputy President, I lament that we do not seem to be giving it the same prominence that we did in the past. I was not associated with the inquiry when the inquiry went into the figures, so perhaps I am wrong and perhaps the government could well say that expenditure on Antarctic science is as big or even bigger than it ever was. However—and I do not want to be too political about this, although I will be a little bit political—during the period of the last Labor government, resources in this area seemed to be diverted. They seemed to go to an area that was more prominent with that government—trying to manage and house the huge number of illegal maritime arrivals that came to Australia at that time. A lot of the resources involved in Southern Ocean research that had been in place for many years under the Howard government seemed to get diverted at that time.

I, like you, Mr Acting Deputy President, think it is essential that we maintain that world recognition of the effort we put into that part of the world. It is important and Australia has a recognised leadership role. It is also very important, as you and Senator Gallacher have mentioned, to the Tasmanian economy. Governments over a long period of time have assisted the Tasmanian economy through the support they have given for Antarctic operations out of our island state.

I have only briefly glanced through the recommendations. Without committing myself to all of them, that brief glance suggested to me that they are on the right track. They seem to be recommendations that, in the main, I would be able to support. I will make a passing comment in relation to recommendation 2 of the additional comments by the Australian Greens, which relates to the Hobart runway extension. I am not familiar with all the detail from recent times, but suffice it to say that getting an air service to Antarctica was a very significant, very important issue about 10 years ago. The only science we used to do down there was when the Aurora Australis took scientists down there. It was usually a lengthy sea trip. Once you got there, you were pretty much confined there for some time—depending on when you went and when you came back.

The complaint was always that there was not enough turnover of scientists, particularly new scientists wanting to develop their expertise in the area. Achieving air contact with the continent was a step that was intended to address that issue. I understand the runway is being extended to allow bigger planes into Antarctica. I caution against in any way diverting funds from that project into more ship days. While ship days are important, the real science on the mainland depends on getting scientists there and getting them back in a timely way that fits in with the budgets of the various organisations they work for, as well as with their own timetables. I am not saying that I totally oppose the recommendation, but I would urge some caution in looking at that.

I am delighted that the committee has again brought to the fore and highlighted Australia's leading role in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. For that, I again congratulate the committee—as well as for the work they have done in producing this report. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.