❓ The Minister for Environment updates the house on the Liberal-National government's creation of marine parks, highlighting the differences in approach compared to the opposition, particularly regarding boat exclusion zones for whale conservation.
AnsweredQoN 434Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
MARINE PARKS — BOAT EXCLUSION ZONES
434. Mr I.C. BLAYNEY to the Minister for Environment:
I am proud of our record in
protecting the environment, and, as the minister knows, marine recreation plays
an important role in the lifestyle of many of my constituents. Can the minister
please update the house on the Liberal–National government's
creation of marine parks and the point of difference compared with that of the
opposition?
434. Mr I.C. BLAYNEY to the Minister for Environment:
I am proud of our record in
protecting the environment, and, as the minister knows, marine recreation plays
an important role in the lifestyle of many of my constituents. Can the minister
please update the house on the Liberal–National government's
creation of marine parks and the point of difference compared with that of the
opposition?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Geraldton for
a great question. He is a strong supporter of marine parks and, I believe,
whale watching in Geraldton.
Since being elected, the Liberal–National
government has created three new marine parks in Western Australia. They are
the Walpole and Nornalup Inlets Marine Park; the Ngari Capes Marine Park, which
goes from Geographe Bay to Augusta; and the Camden Sound Marine Park in the
Kimberley. We have also made significant progress on four more marine parks—that
is, Eighty Mile Beach, Roebuck Bay and North Kimberley, which is part of the
Kimberley science and conservation strategy—and we are progressing the
Dampier Archipelago marine park in the Pilbara. Our commitment to marine parks
will see the actual area of marine parks go from 1.5 million hectares to about
4.3 million hectares in just four years. That is three times the area of marine
parks when we came into power. Indeed, in the four years we have been in power
we have created the same number of marine parks as the opposition created when
it was in office. I am particularly proud of our achievement in Camden Sound,
which is an area of 7 000 square kilometres. We have reserved an area as a
special-purpose zone for whale conservation. In that area, boats can progress
to only within 500 metres of whales and calves. The point I want to make is
that in this whole marine park, boats can go into any particular zone, even
sanctuary zones; boats are permitted in all the zones.
It was a bit of a surprise to me when I read a press release
put out by the opposition spokesperson for the environment, which stated —
''If the Barnett government
was serious about 'enhanced whale protection' it would
completely close calving areas to all but specific whale research and
compliance patrol vessels.
In particular, she said that in Camden Sound she would expect
an exclusion zone of about 70 per cent. We do not support a policy such as
that, which would have the impact of restricting vessels from areas along the
coast of Western Australia where whales are either resting or calving. The plan
I am holding up shows four important areas along the coast. Camden Sound is a
key area for calving, but there are other key, important economic areas for
Western Australia at Exmouth Gulf, Shark Bay and down at Geographe Bay where
calves rest. Such a policy would have a devastating effect on some of our
ports, because closing down —
Mr
P. Papalia : Luckily, that's not what she's proposing.
Mr
W.R. MARMION : She actually is.
If we closed them during just the
calving season, it would still have a drastic effect.
I want to know whether the Leader of
the Opposition is adopting this policy; and if so, he should let us know. The
opposition spokesperson is not sitting on the fence. She has come out and said,
''We will exclude all whale areas for all boats.'' Our government
would not adopt this policy as it would have a detrimental impact on the
economy and some of the key ports of Western Australia.
a great question. He is a strong supporter of marine parks and, I believe,
whale watching in Geraldton.
Since being elected, the Liberal–National
government has created three new marine parks in Western Australia. They are
the Walpole and Nornalup Inlets Marine Park; the Ngari Capes Marine Park, which
goes from Geographe Bay to Augusta; and the Camden Sound Marine Park in the
Kimberley. We have also made significant progress on four more marine parks—that
is, Eighty Mile Beach, Roebuck Bay and North Kimberley, which is part of the
Kimberley science and conservation strategy—and we are progressing the
Dampier Archipelago marine park in the Pilbara. Our commitment to marine parks
will see the actual area of marine parks go from 1.5 million hectares to about
4.3 million hectares in just four years. That is three times the area of marine
parks when we came into power. Indeed, in the four years we have been in power
we have created the same number of marine parks as the opposition created when
it was in office. I am particularly proud of our achievement in Camden Sound,
which is an area of 7 000 square kilometres. We have reserved an area as a
special-purpose zone for whale conservation. In that area, boats can progress
to only within 500 metres of whales and calves. The point I want to make is
that in this whole marine park, boats can go into any particular zone, even
sanctuary zones; boats are permitted in all the zones.
It was a bit of a surprise to me when I read a press release
put out by the opposition spokesperson for the environment, which stated —
''If the Barnett government
was serious about 'enhanced whale protection' it would
completely close calving areas to all but specific whale research and
compliance patrol vessels.
In particular, she said that in Camden Sound she would expect
an exclusion zone of about 70 per cent. We do not support a policy such as
that, which would have the impact of restricting vessels from areas along the
coast of Western Australia where whales are either resting or calving. The plan
I am holding up shows four important areas along the coast. Camden Sound is a
key area for calving, but there are other key, important economic areas for
Western Australia at Exmouth Gulf, Shark Bay and down at Geographe Bay where
calves rest. Such a policy would have a devastating effect on some of our
ports, because closing down —
Mr
P. Papalia : Luckily, that's not what she's proposing.
Mr
W.R. MARMION : She actually is.
If we closed them during just the
calving season, it would still have a drastic effect.
I want to know whether the Leader of
the Opposition is adopting this policy; and if so, he should let us know. The
opposition spokesperson is not sitting on the fence. She has come out and said,
''We will exclude all whale areas for all boats.'' Our government
would not adopt this policy as it would have a detrimental impact on the
economy and some of the key ports of Western Australia.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.