Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) Hanson Construction Materials Pty Ltd proposes to expand the White Rock Quarry in the Adelaide Hills,

(ii) the expansion of the quarry into existing areas of native vegetation will threaten 17 species of local fauna and their habitat including koalas, the southern brown bandicoot and the short beaked echidna,

(iii) land clearing is the greatest threat to koala survival and millions of native animals, including koalas, are killed each year in Australia due to land clearing, and

(iv) members of the local community oppose the expansion of the White Rock Quarry; and

(b) calls on the state Government of South Australia to halt the expansion of the Hanson White Rock Quarry.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is a matter for the South Australian government, and the Senate should not attempt to influence decisions regarding a state matter.

Kimberley Kitching (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Kimberley Kitching (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor opposes this motion, because it's not helpful for the Senate to set itself up as the arbiter of individual projects, motion by motion, under the national environmental law. We need a strong national policy framework to protect koalas, and that's why Labor moved a motion in the House calling for the Morrison government to:

… prevent further habitat loss through yet-to-commence development in areas in which the koala is listed as vulnerable, pending the completion of the formal assessment for up listing, the making of a Threatened Species Recovery Plan, and the making of a new National Koala Conservation Strategy.

The Morrison government has failed to deliver any meaningful protections for our national icons, like the koala, and it's a disgrace.

Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One Nation will not support the motion. Senator Hanson-Young's motion proposes to kill off jobs in South Australia. South Australia is a low-opportunity economy because the Greens have stopped billions of dollars of investment in ecotourism, agriculture and mining. The Greens' support for wind farms has endangered species of large birds drawn into the turbine blades, and their land management policies directly contributed to the catastrophic loss of millions of native animals in the Kangaroo Island fire—millions! The Greens are no friend to Australian animals, no friend to the poor who need jobs and no friend to mum-and-dad farmers who produce food for us to eat. It will be a matter for the government of South Australia to assess the quarry expansion proposal.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that motion No. 953 be agreed to.