Healthy Oceans spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, today praised the order from the Administrative Appeals Tribunal which will see an end to Queensland's shameful lethal shark culling in the World Heritage-Listed Great Barrier Reef.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, "Lethal shark measures are indiscriminate killers and weapons of mass destruction to protected marine life.

"This is a massive win for our Great Barrier Reef and for healthy oceans."

Greens spokesperson for Waste & Recycling and Healthy Oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, says dire predictions from WWF that plastic pollution is set to double by 2030 could be avoided with federal legislation.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, "Australia’s recycling industry is in crisis and plastic pollution is choking our oceans. 

"Enacting federal legislation with real teeth and achievable recycling and packaging targets will provide a national framework for local councils and state governments to enforce.

Greens spokesperson for Waste & Recycling and Healthy Oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, and the Environment spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, today released the exposure draft of a Bill that bans single-use plastics, helps tackle our current waste and recycling crisis, and reduces the toxic plastic pollution that is choking our oceans.

The Product Stewardship Amendment (Packaging and Certain Plastics) Bill 2019 will establish a mandatory product stewardship scheme that:

Greens Healthy Oceans spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, said the findings of a CSIRO-led study, linking climate change to the abundance of krill in the Southern Hemisphere, are a gloomy reminder of the harsh impacts of climate change.

“Our oceans are facing their greatest threat in history from climate change, plastic pollution and overfishing.

“Our oceans are warming at a rate never before seen, up to 90 per cent of global fisheries are either overfished or fully exploited, and there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans by 2050.

The Senate Environment & Communications References Committee inquiry report into the Great Barrier Reef 2050 Partnership Program was tabled today by the Chair of the inquiry, Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson. 

Senator Whish-Wilson said, "This was the Senate at its best, acting swiftly and working cooperatively to scrutinise, in full, government policy of significant public importance.

Greens Healthy Oceans spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, has given support to Action for Dolphin's legal challenge to the world's largest dolphin hunts in Taiji, Japan.  

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “This legal challenge will focus the entire international community's attention on the cruel and inhumane mass slaughter of dolphins that happens too often in Taiji.

Healthy Oceans Spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, has expressed major concern over an application lodged by 3D Oil overnight to conduct seismic testing in the Otway Basin, west of King Island.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, "Seismic testing poses an unacceptable risk to the health of our oceans and it’s shocking just how little research has been done on the impact that seismic testing has on our marine life and fisheries."

Greens Healthy Oceans spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, has come out in support of a legal challenge to the Queensland Government’s “archaic and shameful” shark culling program in the Great Barrier Reef, the hearing for which will be held in Brisbane today. 

Humane Society International, represented by the Environmental Defenders Office NSW, is arguing that the shark control program is in conflict with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority's responsibility to protect the reef, as the drum lines continue to kill sharks, turtles, rays and other marine life. 

Greens Healthy Oceans spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, says dire research published today in the Science journal shows accelerated ocean warming and is yet another frightening wake-up call to the Morrison Government and big business to get serious about climate change and the harsh impact it is having on Australia’s oceans.