Mr OAKESHOTT (9:39 PM) —I rise to grieve about coastal erosion and how we can do more in public policy to mitigate what is happening right along the coast, particularly in 18 coastal hotspots around Australia. It is timely in that the issues of framing a carbon market and all the policy noise are in full flay, and I am pleased to see that both sides of this parliament recognise that when it comes to issues around climate science we are more than 90 per cent in agreement that there is an issue that does need to be dealt with.

Of a more serious nature in relation to the topic being raised this evening is that science in all the climate debate is suggesting 100 per cent proof that the sea level is rising and therefore coastal erosion is an issue Australia will have deal with. So, whilst we are 90 per cent of the way home in the broader climate science, we are 100 per cent there when it comes to sea level rise and the issues that we will have to deal with.

In light of that, I have been working with a community in my electorate at Old Bar, which is considered one of the 18 coastal hotspots with regard to coastal erosion. They have been experiencing an increasingly rapid loss of both public and private land, to the point where houses are now having to be vacated and a place like a 41-unit resort is now under direct threat in the next five to 10 years unless mitigation is put in place quickly.

That is why, in the agreement to form government, there was a request to get a full government response to the very good House of Representatives Standing Committee on Climate Change, Water, Environment and the Arts report of the last parliament, entitled Managing our coastal zone in a changing climate: the time to act is now. The committee was chaired by Jennie George, with Mal Washer as the deputy chair. It was a bipartisan report that delivered, I think, some substantial and important findings for Australian public policy. We now have that full response and are moving to the stage of trying to get a government to implement these recommendations.

In light of all the events that occurred over the Christmas break, I reflect on two recommendations in particular which, if implemented would be very timely in their importance. The first is recommendation 14:

That is a timely recommendation from last year that, on reflection, is one of great importance for us to implement.

As well, recommendation 19, on reflection, has a sense of urgency about it:

We do not have to reinvent the wheel. Those recommendations are there. In the light of what happened throughout late December and early January, I urge the government to take up those very good bipartisan recommendations from the committee of the last parliament.

With regard to Old Bar, there are three other steps for which I will be seeking some support from government. Local councils are desperately in need of support from a body such as the Australian Law Reform Commission, because each council is trying to work out liability questions on its own. We need to get some consistency in the law on the liability questions faced by local planning authorities, so some support from government in charging the Australian Law Reform Commission to do that work is vitally important. The Greater Taree City Council has commissioned WorleyParsons to do a report on this particular hot spot, but it is working through the legal questions on its own and does not have the resources to come up with a long-term sustainable answer without the strong support of both the state and the federal governments. Intergovernmental work, alongside that legal support, is critically important right now.

Also, we will not be able to get away with this work cost free, and requests will come in not only from Old Bar but, I would imagine, from 17 other coastal hot spots for funding support for things such as dune stabilisation. Private landowners at Belongil Beach, Byron Bay, have put in sandbags. A current quote for that sort of work is about $3,500 per metre. If we are talking about 100 to 200 metres, which is the case in most areas, this work will not be cheap. We will start to get up around the half a million dollars to $1 million figure for work on dune stabilisation. This is something that local councils and local landowners cannot be left alone to do. In the Old Bar example, owners of vacant blocks are parties to a group development application for dune stabilisation work. My understanding is that they do not want to necessarily contribute at the same rate as a 41-bed resort. That is quite understandable. But what that does then is hold up a group DA being put in for this important dune stabilisation work. It is a problem that needs the intervention of higher levels of government with both financial and resource support.

Further, we are increasingly seeing the concept of offshore reefs being used to slowdown and stabilise sand movement. I understand the Gold Coast has quite successfully put in an offshore reef—the first example in Australia. Old Bar is starting to go through the process of doing a feasibility study on an offshore reef. Offshore reefs are used in other locations around the world, including some tourist resorts in India. We should not shy away from at least looking at these options. Again, I would hope that there is funding and resource support from government in chasing some of these options for the future. (Time expired)