Mr JENKINS (2:16 AM) —In Wednesday's Herald Sun under the headline `Murray Cod in Danger', there is an article on concerns for the long-term survival of the species the murray cod. In the article it indicated that there were at least six major threats to the murray cod. They include: habitat degradation, pollution such as cold water pollution caused when cool water is released, inadequate river flow patterns, human created barriers to fish migration such as dam walls, and the introduction of European carp into waterways. The article mentions a report that was put down by Professor Robert Kearney of the University of Canberra that fishing was also a major threat. I was interested that in the article there was a photo from the turn of the century where there was a whole line of cod that fishermen had caught in the Murray.

Also on Wednesday we debated in this place the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Wildlife Protection) Bill 2001 and, in a truncated debate, passed that bill. But the major point of that bill was that it fully implemented Australia's obligations under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, the so-called CITES agreement. What is of interest about the CITES agreement is that there are 154 signatories to it, and when we look at those signatories we see the first is the United States of America, having signed that agreement some 26 years ago. It really brought home to me that when we are obliged to put in place international agreements we can do so very quickly but on other occasions we have some difficulties as a country under the Howard government in being able to put in place our proper international obligations. In this case it is a pity that the concern of the Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Senator Hill, for international environment agreements such as CITES is not reflected also in his concern for the Kyoto agreement on greenhouse emissions.

The Kyoto agreement has become an inherent problem in the government's position on international treaties. Minister Hill has the difficulty of not being able to get his way in cabinet on this agreement and it really is a problem. Whilst we all urge people to think globally and act locally, the Kyoto treaty on climate change and greenhouse effects really requires us to have international effort. Geopolitical boundaries do not contain the problem. In fact, in the Kyoto discussions, Australia is in a position to give great leadership. Unfortunately, with the election of President Bush, it is apparent that the United States is not going to cooperate with the continuing discussions and is going to have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, back into the Kyoto discussions.

Tonight the honourable member for Corangamite, in a discussion about dumping in the cement industry, illustrated yet again that the cement industry is one industry that has undergone changes in environmental practices because of the need to prevent the greenhouse phenomenon. If we are going to do that, and if we are going to have some industrial and economic pain as a result of doing the right thing for the environment, we should ensure that countries like the United States do their bit. One of the things that we have to remember is that sustainable development of the globe will depend upon not only what actions we take to save the environment but also our ability in economic terms to provide sufficient resources to make the necessary changes. This is not a simple task; this is complicated. It requires Australia as a developed country to sit down, to progress the Kyoto process and to make sure that we can put in place the exchanges and transfers of things that we need to in developing countries. (Time expired)