[Greens-Media] Government should stop Port of Melbourne from trashing our marine national parks

[Amanda.Sharp at parliament.vic.gov.au]

31 July 2007

Government should stop Port of Melbourne from trashing our marine national
parks

"Alarming revelations at the Inquiry into The Port of Melbourne’s proposal
to deepen the shipping channels  in Port Phillip Bay should prove once and
for all that this project is fundamentally flawed and should be stopped,”
said Sue Pennicuik, MLC for Southern Metropolitan Region.

"I sat and listened with utter amazement as new information, which was
being submitted by the Port on the second last day of a six week Inquiry,
outlined the catastrophic effects that the removal of more than half a
million cubic metres of rock from Port Phillip Heads will cause.

"The new information, which probably underestimates the effects, concedes
that significant damage will occur for at least ten years (if not more) and
take up to 30 years for it to recover," she said. "This is not  just about
rocks scouring holes in the seabed and walls of the marine parks, it's
about destruction of unique ecosystems and marine habitats, which may never
recover.

"I am disgusted that this information is only now being presented. The
Inquiry was supposed to be examining a complete SEES, but this is just
another example of gaps in the information presented by the Port during the
whole process. It's just not good enough.

"The Environmental Management Plan was described by the Port yesterday as
'a work in progress' and we have no idea of the cost of implementing it,
yet this is what we are supposed to rely on to protect the Bay.

"Worse still, there is no identified government agency with overall
responsibility for overseeing the channel deepening project and protecting
the Bay on behalf of the people of Victoria.

"If we add these latest revelations to the dangers of dredging toxic
sediments in the Yarra, the loss of sea grasses, the threat of algal
blooms, the impacts on fish, penguins and other sea birds, the losses to
the fishing, diving and other commercial activities and the tiny economic
gain to shippers claimed by the Port,
then there is no other conclusion than to scuttle the project now and look
at more cost effective and environmentally sustainable alternatives," said
Ms Pennicuik.

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For further information:  Sue Pennicuik  0407 000 270



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