MEDIA RELEASE: Mexico adds to the ocean protection legacy while Australia walks away

Congratulations to Mexico for the creation of the marine national park in the Revillagigedo Archipelago – at 150,000 square kilometres it is the largest ocean reserve in North America.
 
Mexico’s ocean reserve adds to recent global efforts such as the Ross Sea reserve in Antarctica, the Chilean Government’s ocean reserve near the Easter Islands and reserves of Niue and the Cook Islands.  
 
While the world adds to the ocean protection estate Australia is proposing to reduce protections by half at home.
 
In coming weeks the Government may table draft marine reserve management plans that propose deep cuts to the protective zoning declared by the Labor Government in 2012. 
 
Labor put the world’s largest marine reserve network in place which increased Australia’s marine protected areas to over 3.1 million square kilometres and included iconic areas such as the Coral Sea, the Perth Canyon, Geographe Bay, the Kimberley and the Gulf of Carpentaria.
 
The Turnbull Government’s draft plans propose to revoke almost half of Labor’s high-level protection marine national parks.
 
This is an area twice the size of the Australian State of Victoria and representing almost half of the marine national parks in the network of 44 marine parks. If the government proceeds it will constitute the largest removal of area under conservation in history.

 
Labor won’t stand by while the government trashes Australia’s ocean protection network.
 
When the rest of the world is establishing new marine reserves for people today and future generations it is beyond belief that the Turnbull Government is proposing to reduce them.