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

I, and also on behalf of Senators Williams and Bernardi, move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) a Sea Shepherd environmental vessel recklessly discharged up to 500 litres of diesel into the pristine waters of Trinity Inlet at Cairns in October 2012,

(ii) the Sea Shepherd environmental organisation was:

  (A) fined $15 000 in Cairns Court for the pollution offence in July 2014, and

  (B) irresponsible for not taking sufficient care to prevent the discharge into the pristine waters and failed in its charter to protect and preserve marine life, and

(iii) the Australian arm of the organisation is chaired by former Greens leader, Dr Bob Brown; and

(b) calls on the Sea Shepherd organisation and its Chairman, Dr Brown, to apologise to the people of Queensland for the organisation's wilful and reckless damage to the Great Barrier Reef.

Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senators Macdonald, Bernardi and Williams have made some basic factual errors that a simple Internet search would have identified. Dr Bob Brown is no longer Chair of Sea Shepherd and was not chair when the incident occurred. The Cairns court magistrate said that the 100-litre spill was minor and no environmental damage occurred because an absorbent boom was deployed immediately. Sea Shepherd issued a statement indicating that it was neither wilful nor reckless and that Sea Shepherd itself responded by notifying authorities of the spill. This is a poor attempt by the senators to attack the outstanding work of Sea Shepherd, which has tackled illegal whaling in our waters and this year will focus on illegal tooth fish hauls and continue its campaign against Western Australia's indiscriminate killing of sharks.

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

I seek leave to make a one-minute statement on the motion.

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave has been granted for one minute.

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

What Senator Milne has just said is completely incorrect, as are most of the things the Greens say in this parliament. The discharge of the oil was noted by a passer-by and reported to the authorities.

Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Doesn't mean the Sea Shepherd didn't do it—didn't report it.

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

It was reported by Sea Shepherd after it had been reported by the authorities. So the importance of this motion is that there was some damage to the Great Barrier Reef that the Greens political party have never mentioned. Yet when anything else is remotely related to the Great Barrier Reef they are in this chamber shouting from the rooftop. Where were you when this happened? Where were you when this reckless and wilful discharge of oil into the Great Barrier Reef occurred? Nowhere, because it is an organisation associated with your former leader and involves the Sea Shepherd group. (Time expired)

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that general business notice of motion No. 545 be agreed to.