In the federal Senate two senators from opposing parties made the same case: the Great Australian Bight needs bigger, stronger marine park protection, and there's a live process open right now to deliver it.
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water is running a once-in-a-decade review of Australia's marine parks, including the south-west network that the Great Australian Bight Marine Park sits inside. Public submissions close on 30 September 2026
Senator Andrew McLachlan used his speech to put a number on what the review could deliver: "I say let's expand the current Great Australian Bight Marine Park to cover the entire basin, some 800,000 square kilometres.”
McLachlan argued the review can move faster than the World Heritage nomination he's long supported, years faster in his own estimate, and pointed to the government's recent expansion of the Lord Howe and Norfolk marine parks as proof the mechanism works. His proposed expansion would not only meet the government's target of protecting 30 per cent of Australia's oceans by 2030, it would well exceed it. A mining exclusion zone within the expanded park would close the door on seismic testing and drilling permanently, while commercial and recreational fishing continue under existing licences.
Senator Karen Grogan used her own speech to call for submissions before the window closes:
"Now is the time for us to come together and have our say... The consultations are going to close at the end of September, so get on board. If you've got the opportunity, put in a submission."
Grogan and McLachlan are co-chairs of the Parliamentary Friends of World Heritage for the Nullarbor and the Great Australian Bight, and both remain committed to that longer-term goal. But this week's speeches were about the review in front of them now, with McLachlan arguing that “We cannot ask a nursing whale to wait for paperwork."
The bipartisan push comes against a federal Nationals position that runs the opposite way. Nationals leader Matt Canavan called for drilling across the Bight basins and federally funded exploratory drilling as a "priority" earlier this year.
Surfers for Climate CEO Josh Kirkman said the review was a rare case of the paperwork actually mattering.
"Most people never hear about a marine park boundary review. But it's the fastest legal tool the government has to keep drilling out of the Bight; faster than World Heritage, and the window closes on 30 September. We're putting in a submission, and we reckon anyone who's paddled out in that water will want to as well."
Media contact: Josh Kirkman, 0421 594 487, [email protected]
ENDS
About Surfers for Climate: Surfers for Climate is a national organisation mobilising the surfing and coastal community around ocean and climate policy, including the campaign for permanent protection of the Great Australian Bight.
Contact details:
Media contact: Josh Kirkman, 0421 594 487, [email protected]