According to a media release sent from his office, Fedreal Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch is rallying North Queenslanders to ‘Say No’ to the proposed closure of the Coral Sea, launching a petition against government and conservation groups.

The petition, titled ‘Don’t Lock Us Out’, Mr Entsch is calling for a halt to the Federal Government’s marine park process.

Mr Entsch claims adverse affects would include:

- Increasing Australia’s net import of seafood by a further $1.5 billion
- Cost taxpayers $58.2 million to manage the closed areas
- Adversely impact 60 regional communities
- Cost 36,000 jobs in fishing and related industries
- Lock out fishers while leaving the area exposed to foreign poachers

“We’re calling on this government to reassess the proposal before the closures absolutely decimate the livelihoods of local businesses that rely on access to the Coral Sea’s resources,” Mr Entsch said.

“The focus has to be on sustainable use of our marine environment, not on some ideological position of locking up huge areas and throwing away the key."

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The petition asks the House of Representatives to urge the government to halt the current process of establishing marine parks and to ensure that any future marine park boundaries are:

- Based on science that is made available to all stakeholders,
- Based on assessments of all risks to the environment by marine activities,
- Accompanied by socio-economic research to show the impacts on commercial fisheries, charter businesses, recreational anglers, and associated communities and industries, including tourism; and
- Considerate of Australia’s future food security needs.

The petitions will be available at fishing, tackle and outdoor shops around Cairns and Cape York, as well as at seafood restaurants and other businesses that are indirectly reliant on fishing or marine activities.

It will also be available to print off through Mr Entsch’s website at www.warrenentsch.com.au

The final 60-day public consultation period, from which Environment Minister Tony Burke will decide whether the marine reserves should go ahead, closes on September 10th, 2012.

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