‘Protect Our Bight For Good’: World Heritage push put to parliament
The Greens have introduced a new law to permanently outlaw oil and gas drilling in the Great Australian Bight.
The legislation, put forward in federal parliament on Tuesday, aims to protect the Great Australian Bight from oil and gas drilling permanently – but requires Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to nominate the Bight for consideration as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Conservation Council SA chief executive Kirsty Bevan told InDaily there is an urgent need to ensure adequate protections are in place to protect South Australia’s remaining natural estate.
“The Conservation Council SA is a great supporter of the bill,” she said.
“World Heritage status will provide great interest and awareness of the site and its natural value, but more importantly it also brings a commitment to protect it into the future.”
To be included on the list, sites must be “of outstanding universal value” and meet at least one of ten selection criteria including sites that “contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance”.
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the Bight is a South Australian icon and worthy of the prestigious status.
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“85 per cent of the species that live in the Bight are found nowhere else on Earth,” she said.
“It is an essential calving sanctuary for southern right whales, and a feeding ground for endangered sea lions, sharks, tuna and migratory sperm whales.
“An oil spill or drilling disaster would not only be an environmental catastrophe but with ten thousand fishing and tourism jobs reliant on the Bight, it would be an economic disaster too.”
It joins a long list of campaigners including Traditional Owners, local communities, councils and politicians.
In November, a state government spokesperson told AAP it supports World Heritage recognition for the Great Australian Bight, but the decision is a matter for the Commonwealth.
“Environment Minister Susan Close has written to the Commonwealth and has made in person representations, urging them to consider the listing,” the spokesperson said.
It follows calls from Liberal Senator Andrew McLachlan in August.
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McLachlan said no “substantive action” had been taken by the government for the Bight’s protection since 1998, when the park was proclaimed under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act.
Additionally, research in November 2019 suggested most South Australians want the Great Australian Bight on the World Heritage List.
The Australia Institute poll of more than 500 people found 84 per cent support world heritage protection, up from 77 per cent in March.
The survey also showed that 66 per cent believe the bight would be a more productive asset for SA as a marine park than as an oil field.
Campaigners in Streaky Bay on the Fight For The Bight National Day of Action in 2019. Image: Great Australian Bight Alliance
The Bight was previously at risk of offshore drilling in the area by Norwegian mining company Equinor, who abandoned the plans in 2020, saying the project’s potential was “not commercially competitive compared with other exploration opportunities”.
The decision followed significant public backlash to the plans including a campaign led by the South Australian arm of the Wilderness Society and partners in the Great Australian Bight Alliance, Fight for the Bight.
There are currently no active licences for oil and gas exploration in the Bight and Hanson-Young believes it should stay this way.
“We must ensure the Bight is not put at risk again by any government greenlighting new gas and oil developments,” she said.
“The community-led Fight for the Bight campaign has won the battle against big oil and gas once before but now it’s time to win the war.”
The Greens have created a public petition titled Protect Our Bight For Good.
