25 May 2006 - Today in the Senate
Estimates hearing on the environment portfolio
the Australian Labor Party has revealed that it
may be working on a secret policy to exploit the
resources of the precious Antarctic territories.
Labor Senator Jan McLucas sought
to have the Department of the Environment and
Heritage produce for the Labor Party a detailed
analysis of the mineral resources which may lie
beneath the ice of Antarctica.
Senator McLucas said:
"...surely it would be
useful for this committee to understand whether,
in fact,
there is anything there that can legitimately
be mined, and what are the barriers to it."
(Senate Estimates, Parliament House, 25 May 2006)
I repeated today what I have
made clear whenever I have been asked: the Australian
Government is implacably opposed to mining in
the Australian Antarctic territory. Furthermore,
the Madrid Protocol on Antarctic Environment Protection,
ratified by Australia in 1994, prohibits all signatory
nations from exploiting Antarctic mineral resources.
Under the Madrid Protocol, any
activity relating to mineral resources is banned.
As the Minister for the Department
of the Environment and Heritage, I have directed
my officers to not comply with this illogical
request from the Australian Labor Party.
This would divert staff resources
from the vital business of preparing to battle
to protect whales at the upcoming meeting of the
International Whaling Commission and other necessary
work.
I will instead ask the Department
to provide the Australian Labor Party with references
to documents where they may find this information.
I also call on the ALP to come clean on why it
needs such information unless it is proposing
a policy to mine Antarctica?
