STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Mr WILKIE (Clark) (13:33): I'm very proud of the fact that Hobart is Australia's gateway to the Antarctic. Indeed, the whole of Tasmania contributes significantly to the world's understanding of and the protection of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean. Kingston, just to the south of Hobart, is home to the Australian Antarctic Division.

Hobart itself is home to world-leading expertise at the university's Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies and home to the headquarters of CCAMLR, one of the Antarctic treaty organisations, which will meet next month to discuss the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources. This is particularly important right now with krill, the foundation of the Antarctic ecosystem, under increasing pressure from decreasing sea ice cover, ocean acidification, competing predator pressure and an increasingly voracious krill fishing industry.

At this precarious time, it's clear that Australia needs to leverage its Antarctic expertise, increase our investment in on-ice and at-sea research and re-establish Australia's scientific and environmental leadership, which contributed to the global conservation of Antarctica in the fifties under Menzies and again in the eighties under Hawke. It's clear too that this should include a return to the precautionary principle and support for a ban on krill fishing to ensure this keystone species is not pushed beyond its limits.

This would help safeguard the Antarctic ecosystem now and for future generations.