01 August 2007

Kevin Rudd MP
Federal Labor Leader
Peter Garrett MP
Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Heritage

A Rudd Labor Government will fast track Australia’s nomination for World Heritage listing of Ningaloo Reef - WA’s largest and most accessible coral reef.

Ningaloo Reef is one of Australia’s great natural wonders, extending 260 km from Point Murat on the tip of the North West Cape to Amherst Point, just south of Coral Bay.

The WA Government has had a long standing commitment to seek World Heritage listing and has been actively seeking Federal Government support since 2003.

The preservation of Ningaloo Reef will be a top priority for a Rudd Labor Government. Put simply, this pristine reef must be protected forever.

Ningaloo Reef deserves to take its place alongside the Great Barrier Reef on the World Heritage List.

Only the Federal Government can nominate Ningaloo for World Heritage status.

National governments that are Parties to the World Heritage Convention can nominate properties within their territory for inscription on the World Heritage List. The decision on whether to list the property is then taken by the World Heritage Committee after an extensive international assessment process.

A Rudd Labor Government will submit the nomination for listing before the next round closes in February 2008.

Despite initial in-principle support under then Environment Minister David Kemp, subsequent Environment Ministers of the Howard Government have unnecessarily delayed the nomination of this great natural wonder.

To qualify for inscription, nominated properties must have values that are outstanding and universal.

Independent and comprehensive research commissioned by the WA Government into the World Heritage qualities of the area show its outstanding values are of international significance.

World Heritage listing will help build recognition for this unique environment and attract increasing number of tourists delivering benefits for the local economy.

A 2003 study found that annual tourist expenditure in the shires of Exmouth and Carnarvon exceeded $120 million.

World Heritage listing does not affect ownership rights and experience in Australia's World Heritage properties shows that listing does not necessarily limit the range of activities which can be carried out on a property, unless they threaten the outstanding World Heritage values of the property.

While human impacts such as pollution and overfishing are degrading other reefs around the world, most of the reef in Ningaloo Marine Park is still in pristine condition because of the clear oceanic waters and low levels of land-based pollution.

Ningaloo Reef incorporates a uniquely diverse range of habitats from the open ocean, seabeds of the continental slope and shelf, the coral reef and lagoon, and the intertidal coastal environments.

One of Ningaloo Marine Park’s unique features is the rapid drop off in bottom depth in the Park’s north. Because there are depths of 100m within 6km of the coastline, marine mammals and migratory deep sea fish are found unusually close to the shore.

Ningaloo Reef supports a staggering abundance of marine life including:More than 200 species of coral, 600 species of shellfish and other molluscs, 500 species of fish and several threatened species such as dugong and turtles;

• Huge filter feeding whale sharks - the world's largest fish;
• Humpback whales that migrate twice annually through the reef waters with their calves;
• Endangered and vulnerable marine creatures including turtles (loggerhead, green and hawksbill turtles) and dugongs;
• Seabirds and migratory waders, including species listed under international conservation conventions, use the coast, wetlands and reef waters as resting, feeding and breeding sites; and,
• Manta rays and populations of large game fish including sailfish and marlin.
  

This Federal Labor election commitment delivers on the resolution passed at ALP National Conference earlier this year that: “Labor will seek World Heritage listing for Ningaloo Reef, based on the boundaries proposed by the West Australian Labor Government.’

Contact:
Lachlan Harris (Rudd): 0417 592 338
Fiona Sugden (Travelling with Rudd): 0422 880 737