2022-11-17
The Greens support the Government endorsing the Ocean Conservation Pledge to protect at least 30 percent of the ocean by 2030, but warn that these protections need integrity, unlike Australia’s current marine protection network which looks good on paper but is completely inadequate in reality.
The Government likes to claim 45 percent of Australia’s marine territory already sits within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) but neglects to mention that just 17 percent of this marine territory is fully protected from oil, gas and fishing activities.
The Greens call on Labor to restore its original 2012 MPA program that would implement significant upgrades to ‘no-take’ or ‘green’ zones in ecologically significant areas of the marine environment.
Quotes attributable to Greens spokesperson for healthy oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson:
“Only 17 percent of Australia’s marine territory is fully protected from oil, gas and fishing activities, thanks to the last 10 years of the LNP government undermining and downgrading real marine protections*.
“The Greens call on Labor to restore its original 2012 MPA program that would implement significant upgrades to ‘no-take’ or ‘green’ zones in ecologically significant areas of the marine environment. This is Labor’s legacy, and was a policy it took to the 2016 and 2019 elections. It is concerning that Labor took no policy to restore this network to the last election, and have again today been silent on their legacy.
“Big statements from the Minister about protecting our oceans are meaningless so long as Australia’s MPAs remain open slather for the oil and gas giants or are still subject to commercial fishing.
“We must ensure we have at least 30 percent of our high conservation marine environment in ‘green zones’ that don't allow oil and gas exploration.
“Our marine wildlife will continue to decline and face risks without genuine levels of protection. That is because the current ‘green’ or ‘no-take’ zones are concentrated in the deeper waters near the edge of Australia’s marine jurisdiction, barely touching the continental shelf where threats to biodiversity are concentrated. Their placement has been deliberately adjusted by the previous Government to not impact fishing or oil and gas interests.
“Desperate measures, such as the recent closure by AFMA of significant areas of the South East Trawl fishery due to impacts of climate change, is a stark example of the challenges our oceans and governments face in a time of climate emergency.
*Green zones with real integrity were downgraded by 40 percent under the LNP.