While Scott Morrison attends G7 and the world plans to transition away from fossil fuels the Australian Government has made a mockery of itself by inviting oil and gas companies to exploit 80,000km2 of new offshore acreage, to help with a “gas led recovery”.
 
Greens spokesperson for Healthy Oceans, Peter Whish-Wilson, said Australia has no environmental credibility left under the Morrison Government.
 
“Today’s news that 80,000km2 of our ocean has been handed over for oil gas exploration exposes the Prime Minister’s attendance at the G7 a complete travesty.
 

The Senate Inquiry into seismic testing has tabled its final report today. 

For the first time ever, the Federal Parliament heard evidence that united fishing, environmental, scientific and community stakeholders in their concerns surrounding the ongoing risks of oil and gas exploration in our oceans.

The Greens have called for action following the death of two whales which have been "dislodged" from the bottom of a Royal Australian Navy ship as it berthed in the US.
 
Greens spokesperson for Healthy Oceans, Peter Whish-Wilson:
 
“The Australian Navy are understandably disheartened by this tragic event.
 
“This is a timely reminder to all of us of our direct and indirect impacts on the oceans and precious marine life.
 

The ‘Implementation of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation Partnership’ audit report has confirmed longstanding concerns from the Greens of a dodgy $443.3 million government grant to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation (GBRF).

Greens spokesperson for Healthy Oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson:

“The audit report confirms long-standing concerns relating to the proficiency of the GBRF and its capacity to deliver on the grants objectives.

“The GBRF is essentially a private organisation with no track record in managing large scientific programs.

Yet another devastating climate change report details that the Great Barrier Reef is all but doomed without radical climate action. It begs the question: what will it take for our leaders to act?
 
Greens spokesperson for Healthy Oceans Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said immediate transformative action to reverse climate change impacts on the reef is possible, but political will and determination is lacking.
 

The Australian Greens have welcomed Labor’s confirmation today that the party opposes the renewal of the Petroleum Exploration Permit 11 (PEP11) licence, which allows oil and gas drilling off the NSW coast.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Greens Senator for NSW, said:

“This clear position from Labor will be welcomed by communities across NSW, and indeed across the country. Now all eyes are on the Coalition to see sense and outright reject PEP11.

An alarming new report showing a drastic decline in shark and ray populations is yet another reason shark nets and lethal drum lines must be removed from Australia’s beaches and oceans.
 
Greens spokesperson for Healthy Oceans, Senator Whish-Wilson, said action was needed urgently.
 
“Fixed-drum lines and mesh-nets are designed to entangle and kill sharks but are also indiscriminate killers and weapons of mass destruction to protected marine life.
 

Senator Peter Whish-Wilson calls on the upcoming Meeting of Environment Ministers to review lethal shark mitigation measures as a priority agenda item. This comes at the end of a whale migration season that saw an unprecedented number of whales caught in shark nets and as a coalition of NGOs announces a full costing for Queensland to transition from lethal to non-lethal measures.
 

A study released today by the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies reveals a decline in numbers of endemic Tasmanian species the Maugean Skate due to worsening environmental conditions linked to human activities. This raises the alarm on its listing status and lack of conservation plan.

Tasmanian Senator Whish-Wilson, Greens spokesperson for Healthy Oceans, today calls on Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley for a federally funded species recovery plan in light of this new information.

The Morrison Government’s announcement today of $61.7m to ‘boost local tourism and preserve our environment’ is a drop in the ocean of what’s needed for a green recovery, the Greens say.