Coral Sea – No Consultation and No Debate. Now What?

by Marine Qld on 20 Nov 2009 Marine Queensland has expressed dismay at the Government response to Senator Boswell’s disallowance motion on the Coral Sea Conservation Zone in the Senate..

Marine Queensland General Manager, Don Jones said: 'First we find the declaration of the Coral Sea Conservation Zone without any consultation with industry or the local communities. Now we find the Government and the Greens join forces in the Senate to gag any debate on this important motion.'

The motion was lost with a vote of 31 in favour of the motion and 31 against the motion. Senator Xenophon sided with the Government and the Greens to defeat the motion. Not one Labour Senator spoke on the motion.

'The aim of moving the disallowance in the Senate was to give Queenslanders the opportunity to look at the whole process and its ramifications rationally rather than be subjected to the political ram raid that seems to have dominated the process so far,'continued Jones. 'Unfortunately the gagging of all debate continues the pattern of total disregard for Queensland communities and the industry.'

Minister Garrett announced the introduction of the Heritage Park on the 14th May with no public consultation and with little consideration for the impact it would have on regional communities or industry. To further demonstrate his disregard for the opinions of the affected regional communities he chose to make the announcement at the Sydney Aquarium – far away from those the decision would directly impact.

'By taking this action, it sends a very clear message to local communities in Queensland,' Jones said. 'It leaves Industry with very little confidence in the Bio-regional Planning Process when the integrity of the process is compromised in such a significant manner.'

The future of the Bio-regional Planning Process does not bode well for industry or local communities given the approach of Government to date.

'What confidence can industry and local communities have in the outcomes of this process for the environment and the subsequent management regimes?' said Jones.

Recreational fishers, the commercial and charter fishing industry along with many other sectors of the public are sick and tired of Government’s policy of restricting activities and access as one of the few methods of achieving environmental protection.

'In this day and age, you would expect a much more sophisticated approach to community engagement and environmental protection.' He said.

'It is clear Government is not interested in the views of the local community' said Jones, 'Given they are not interested, we intend to lead the local community consultation process ourselves to gauge the true views of industry and the local community,' said Jones. 'Unfortunately such a flawed process will now only result in polarised views in the community. This is a very poor result for industry, community and the environment.'

More at www.marineqld.com.au