10 AUGUST
Greens will protect Coral Sea

The Australian Greens today announced a new plan to protect the Coral
Sea environment from oil and gas extraction, unsustainable fishing and
pollution.

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown said a new Coral Sea Marine Reserve
would protect one of Australia’s most magnificent marine areas.

“The Coral Sea is home to many endangered species including but only 1%
is protected,” said Senator Brown.

The Greens proposal would allow recreational game fishing in the western
(closest to land) region of the marine park north of Cairns.

Management of the Reserve would be through an extension of the existing
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

“Oil and gas mining in the Coral Sea would put the Great Barrier Reef at
risk of a major spill as we have seen in the Gulf of Mexico – and the
pressure for drilling will grow,” said Senator Brown.

“A spill disaster like that in the Gulf would decimate not only the
world’s biggest reef and the Coral Sea but a key part of the Queensland
economy and thousands of jobs.”

Greens Queensland Senate candidate Larissa Waters said, “The Greens
proposal to continue recreational fishing at Linden Bank and the Cairns
Seamount while protecting the rest of the Coral Sea is a balanced way
forward.

“Recreational fishers would still be able to enjoy fishing these
favourite spots, and fish stocks would be able to replenish in large
undisturbed breeding areas.

“Commercial fishers would be bought out with decent compensation, and
oil and gas would be off limits to protect our Reef and coastline from
disasters like the Gulf of Mexico and Montara oil spills.”

Media contact: Peter Stahel 0459 133 597

www.greensmps.org.au

In light of this, it has been suggested that a system of automatic enrolment should be introduced. This proposal was put to the government by the AEC itself in 2007, was a recommendation arising from the Australia 2020 Youth Summit in 2008, and is a key policy of the Greens in the impending election.

Under such a model, voters would be automatically entered onto the electoral roll as soon as they are eligible. The information required to do this would flow from Medicare, Centrelink, Australia Post, state education offices, driving license registration centres or other government departments. Additionally, a capacity for automatic updating may also exist, eliminating the need to declare variations in address.

Interestingly, the AEC has operated a Continuous Roll Update process since 1999, which allows information obtained from various government agencies to be used to strike individuals from the electoral roll.  Utilising the same resources to add and update people on the roll seems to be the reasonable next step.

Both New South Wales and Victoria have now adopted systems of automatic enrolment for state elections. Such a mechanism is employed nationally in Canada, and is common throughout countries in Europe.

As we move towards 21 August, we must also consider the future of our democracy and the ways in which we might improve it. Moreover, as this Thursday marks the beginning of the International Year of Youth, it is more important than ever to focus on empowering the young people who will shape our nation’s future.

Implementing automatic enrolment on a federal level is not only logical, it is necessary. Doing so would ensure the integrity of our elections, facilitate the enfranchisement of our youth, and strengthen our democracy.