On 20 March, the environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, released the management plans for Australian Marine Parks “for all Australians”, indicating that these plans demonstrate a “balanced and scientific evidence-based approach to ocean protection”. The management plans are neither balanced nor evidence-based, a position that was supported by over 1,400 Australian and international marine researchers in response to the draft plans, released […]

More than 35m hectares of “no-take” ocean will be stripped from Australia’s marine parks if plans released by the government go ahead, according to analysis commissioned by conservation groups. The environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, released plans for 44 marine parks on Tuesday, claiming a “more balanced and scientific evidence-based approach to ocean protection”. But the analysis […]

The federal government will cut the total number of ‘green’ conservation areas under new plans to regulate Australia’s marine parks. Labor says the future of the Great Barrier Reef is on the line, as it opposes new government plans to regulate marine parks. On Wednesday, the government introduced changes to the regulation of 44 Australian […]

Bruce Batch, a Cairns-based fisherman, is cautious about the Turnbull government’s plans for the Coral Sea marine park, even though it potentially boosts his industry by slashing the area of highest protection in half. The proposal, tabled in parliament on Wednesday, will leave just a quarter of the Coral Sea as a green zone – which […]

Big changes are in store for Australia’s marine marks, under new plans proposed by the Federal Government. The Coalition says the proposal ‘opens up’ more ocean to commercial and recreational fishing. But Labor says it removes important environmental protections, including in the Coral Sea. http://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/am/frydenberg-releases-new-marine-park-plan-allowing-more-fishing/9570168

Opposition condemns Coalition plan to open more recreational and commercial fishing areas Labor says it will move to disallow new marine park management plans proposed by the Turnbull government, branding the change the “largest removal of marine area from conservation, ever, from any government in the world”.The new management plans were uploaded by officials on […]

The Turnbull government will strip back highest-level protections in a host of sensitive marine areas, including critical waters near the Great Barrier Reef, saying it is protecting the environment while supporting fishing and tourism. But Labor has branded the changes “the largest removal of areas from conservation in history” and will seek to disallow the […]

The federal government is planning on downgrading the level of protection given to our marine national parks. Meaning protected marine parks will now be open to fishing, and even oil and gas exploration.

O’Connor MP Rick Wilson will request the removal of a zone permitting scallop trawling in a proposed marine reserve area at Bremer Bay. It comes after environmental concern over how scallop trawling could damage the area, which is a hotspot for marine life including orcas. Mr Wilson previously agreed with the Bioregional Advisory Panel and […]

Growing global momentum to protect the world’s oceans from overfishing could be undermined by Australia, warns renowned conservationist David Suzuki and more than 1,461 other scientists. Australia is currently considering the world’s biggest downgrading of a protected area with a reduction in the size of its network of marine reserves. “If Australia does something progressive in […]