LAUNCH OF MARINE PARK VESSEL “WOPPABURRA”

_{18 August, 2006}

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What a delightful day in a very special place here on the island of Kanomi just a few kilometres north of Woppa Island where the Burra of Woppa or the Woppa people join with us today to commission and name a vessel which will do so much to preserve the natural and cultural heritage of this part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Ladies and Gentlemen, particularly the Member for Keppel, Paul Hollihan, Cr Brian Dorey, representing the Livingstone Shire Council, John Tanzer the CEO of the Great Barrier Marine Park Authority and Keith Twyford, the Queensland Regional Manager of the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

We are honoured today to have with us Bob Muir and Chrissy Dohety from the Woppaburra tribe which inhabited Great Keppel Island for many centuries.

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven wonders of the world and the Marine Park which surrounds the reef and covers the Keppel Island group is an area with world class coral reefs and world class management arrangements.  The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority manages the Park with on the water compliance done by the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Authority.

You will all be aware that recently the Commonwealth Government increased the size of the Green Zones or no go zones in the Marine Park from about 5% to somewhere in the order of 33%.  Very strict management arrangements apply in these areas but it is pointless having those strict management arrangement if they are not enforced.  And that is where the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Authority using this vessel Woppaburra will have a very important and significant role to play.

It’s no good having the right management rules if they are not enforced and part of the work of the Woppaburra and its crew will be to perform compliance work in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park as well assisting with research and management duties.

The Australian Government, some years ago, launched its Oceans Policy, one of the first policies in the world specifically for oceans.  And a considerable amount of work has been done towards the establishment of and maintenance of those Marine Parks.

I’m not sure if you heard or saw in the media earlier this week that a report on the new zoning arrangements in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park indicated that stocks had rejuvenated even more quickly than scientists had anticipated.  This is good news for the coral reefs and marine parks and even for the fishing industry.  I’m told by skilled scientists that as coral trout and other reef fish increase in numbers substantially within the Green Zone, they will spill over into the wider Marine Park area which will of course be very good for the fishing industry and for amateur fishermen alike.  So that is good news and I think is an indication of the careful management put in place by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

This vessel the Woppaburra will be manned normally by a crew of two and it’s interesting to note that one of the crew members is an elder of the mainland tribe in this area Bill Mann.  He does exercise custodial authority over these islands of the Woppa people.

The vessel is funded by a joint Commonwealth/State arrangement with both the Australian Government and the Queensland Government each paying half of the approximate $430,000 needed to build and fit out this vessel.

This joint partnership between the Commonwealth and the State does demonstrate that partnerships do work when dealing with the Marine Park and that partnership extends even further with the involvement of Local Government, the Livingstone Shire Council and the Woppaburra people, all of whom have a role to play in properly managing this very special world class natural resource on our doorstep.

This is our Great Barrier Reef – all of us from Governments to individuals must play our part in making sure it remains Great!

With those few words and following a few words from Paul Hoolahan we together with Bob Muir and Chrissy Dohety will officially launch and name this vessel – not by breaking the customary bottle of champagne over the bow - because broken glass wouldn’t be too good on this lovely beach in this pristine area – but we will do even better than that by using some of the quality water from the Marine Park to christen this vessel.

Over to you Paul.

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