Minister for Primary Industries, Katrina Hodgkinson, and Minister for the Environment, Rob Stokes, welcomed the passage of the Marine Estate Management Bill 2014 through the NSW Parliament on Wednesday night.
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Ms Hodgkinson said the passage of the Bill heralds a new era in the management of the marine estate in NSW.
“When the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government was elected in 2011, we immediately set about righting the wrongs of the former Labor Government in relation to management of the marine estate,” Ms Hodgkinson said.
“For three years a considered, sensible approach to marine estate management has been under development and the Bill is the fruits of that work.
“The Marine Estate Management Bill 2014 addresses community concerns about how the State’s six marine parks were established and managed by previous Labor governments.
“In the 16 years prior to the 2011 election, Labor applied a politically-motivated, non-strategic and imbalanced approach to management of the marine estate, leading to indiscriminate lines on maps being drawn via desktop.
“The NSW Liberals & Nationals Government has followed through on its commitment to apply a true triple-bottom-line approach to management, which considers economic, social and environmental outcomes.”
Mr Stokes said the Bill will guide the management of the NSW coast in a manner that promotes and recognises the environmental, social and economic importance of our beaches, headlands and coastal waters.
“We have an obligation to present and future generations to make sure we do not love the coast to death and that we conserve its many and unique values,” Mr Stokes said.
“This legislation reflects the NSW Government's commitment to effective integrated coastal zone management based on credible science.
“It also gives clear recognition to the central role that ecologically sustainable development must play to ensure development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”