The petition of the undersigned being concerned citizens of Tasmania draws to the attention of the House to the Government’s policy of having a moratorium on new marine parks, which is stifling debate on this worthwhile issue.

The Minister for Primary Industries and Water Guy Barnett, and the Minister for Parks Jacquie Petrusma need to engage in a sensible and bona fide debate with the Tasmanian community about having at least one marine park in each unique part of our coastline (called a “bioregion”) that is well protected from its major threats and big enough to protect the habitat that our special marine creatures rely upon.

The ocean is Tasmania’s biggest wilderness area and it’s very special even in international terms. The marine environment is under a lot of pressure, with major changes occurring now. We need to mark out special areas of underwater wilderness and protect them from their major threats. This will give them the extra resilience they need to weather these changes. 

Marine parks have other benefits too. They are great sites for tourism, scientific study, education, recreation, as well as protecting rare plants and animals. They can also ‘reseed’ depleted area and provide benefits for fishing.

The petitioners ask the House, regardless of the Members political affiliation, to take the lead on creating new and meaningful marine parks.