Australia says it will create the world's largest network of marine parks ahead of the Rio+20 summit.

The reserves will cover 3.1 million sq km of ocean, including the Coral Sea.

Restrictions will be placed on fishing and oil and gas exploration in the protected zone covering more than a third of Australia's waters.

Environment Minister Tony Burke, who made the announcement, will attend the earth summit in Brazil next week with Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

"It's time for the world to turn a corner on protection of our oceans," Mr Burke said. "And Australia today is leading that next step."

Australia has timed its announcement to coincide with the run-up to the Rio+20 Earth Summit - a global gathering of leaders from more than 130 nations to discuss protecting key parts of the environment, including the ocean, says the BBC's Duncan Kennedy.

The plans, which have been years in the making, will proceed after a final consultation process.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18437040

Of course, Tony Abbott, the great stinker-thinker outside the fishing-net announced he is "instinctively against" anything which impinges on the rights of recreational fishermen. Idiotic statement of little value considering the perils facing this little planet. Anyhow he is catholic, thus entitled to his beliefs about the loaves and fishes... But according to the unimaginative ABC writers (they use the same "pounced" many time when Abbott "pounces") he "pounced" on the revelation that the Government is preparing dirt file on the Liberal (conservative) members of parliament... Would not be too hard to show how "contraflicting" Abbott's thinking is on all issues... 

Meanwhile in Yourp...

EU ministers have agreed to ban fishing ships from throwing away their excess catch, a controversial practice that has seen millions of tonnes of edible fish thrown away since the introduction of strict EU fishing quotas forty years ago.

The decision, hailed as a “breakthrough” by UK ministers, follows an 18-month campaign for comprehensive reform of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) that was spearheaded by this newspaper.

The agreement followed 24 hours of negotiations at a crucial EU Council meeting of fisheries ministers in Luxembourg.

Two years ago The Independent reported that North Sea fisherman were throwing away up to half of all the fish they caught because of EU laws that ban fisherman from returning to port with more fish than are allowed by strict quotas. An estimated 1.3 million tonnes of fish from the North East Atlantic are thrown away every year.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/eu-ministers-agree-to-ban-fishing-ships-from-throwing-away-their-excess-catch-7848542.html

As world fish populations have dwindled by a massive amount, especially since the 1970s, it is time to assess the damage done and rectify it. The protection of the environment where fishermen presently take up to 15 per cent of their catch might actually improve fishing in the non restricted areas. as fish would (will) migrate in greater numbers outside the restricted parks... Of course, the Australian government will have to send gunships to stop illegal fishing from foreign boats...

Makes sense, I'm Gus leonisky...

Meanwhile hear a few BANGs in the quiet national parks of New South Wales...

Shooters MP Robert Brown was heckled by the Greens as he introduced the legislation.

"The threat of ferals in our national parks is great, even more so after recent floods where the populations of feral cats, foxes, pigs, wild dogs and goats has exploded," Mr Brown said.

"What about horses? What about brumbies? They're full of sheep and brumbies," a Greens MP interjected.

"But of course the Greens, who all but one live east of the Iron Cove Bridge, wouldn't know that would they?" Mr Brown retorted.

Outside Parliament, Kevin Evans from the National Parks Association said they fear the parks and reserves initially identified for hunting will be just the tip of the iceberg.

"We certainly are worried that this will expand into additional parks and also to be be free reign to hunt feral animals in national parks," he said.

"This presents an enormous animal welfare concern and a safety risk to visitors and staff in our national parks."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-14/nsw-national-parks-hunting-bill-introduced/4070952

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Why do I bother... 

Environment Minister Tony Burke has cancelled a trip to Brazil for a once in a decade meeting on sustainable development, amid a political stand-off with the Coalition over parliamentary tactics.

The Coalition has refused to grant Mr Burke leave from Parliament until after Question Time on Tuesday, demanding instead that he remain in Australia to explain his plan for a massive expansion of marine parks around the country.

But Mr Burke says leaving on Tuesday would make him too late for many of the bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, where he planned to lobby other countries to follow Australia's lead on the issue of marine park protections.

"[My] presence there simply would have been an opportunity to maximise that - completely in the national interest - and an argument I've never heard anyone come against," Mr Burke has told ABC Radio.

"I don't think it's smart for Australia to miss the opportunity that they've (the Opposition) decided we're going to miss."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-18/burke-cancels-trip-after-being-denied-a-pair/4076644

As embarrassing photos go, it could have been worse. There are no cocktail waitresses in shot and its subject, the Deputy Opposition Leader is not in an especially compromising position.

The incriminating snapshot, posted on her website, shows Julie Bishop brandishing a sticker which declares her love for marine life and her desire to save it.

That's it. She is smiling. She looks happy. She looks like the kind of person who likes dolphins and coral and who believes sea turtles should be allowed to roam free from persecution.

What could possibly be controversial about that?

In this hung parliament, as it limps towards the winter break, everything is controversial.

Everything is capable of being dragged into the parliamentary fray, and even the most innocent of sea mammals are not safe from politicking. Dolphins are bipartisan no more.

The issue, of course, was the announcement last week by the Environment Minister, Tony Burke, of the creation of a huge network of marine parks.

Coalition members said this would have a destructive effect on the livelihoods of commercial fishermen.

They demanded Burke stay back from the environment summit being held in Rio de Janeiro, where he has told us in no uncertain terms he would much rather be this week, to answer parliamentary questions on the matter.

On Monday there were two opposition questions on marine parks and yesterday there was one - a strange backbench inquiry asking what would happen now that fishermen, ejected from Marine areas because of the government's preference for dolphins, would no longer be patrolling Australia's northern waters.

(Apparently the fishermen often phone in suspected illegal arrivals, in between netting monster barramundi, thereby acting as informal scouts for our border protection officials.)

What would happen when these self-appointed marine marshals were sidelined by the seaweed-fanciers on the government side?

And that's when the environment minister brandished the incriminating shot of Julie ''Save our marine life'' Bishop, and pointed out that despite opposition honking on the marine park issue, the opposition environment spokesman hadn't grilled Burke on it, nor had another Coalition front-bencher.

The Coalition may have an ambivalent position on marine life, but it loves birds, specifically the buff-banded rail bird, a native of the ecologically sensitive Cocos Island which is in danger of being devoured by alien rat castaways on illegal asylum-seeker boats.

The MP for Stirling, Michael Keenan, asked the acting Prime Minister, Wayne Swan, whether he could confirm if anything was being done about this bio-security threat.

''I cannot confirm,'' Swan mumbled into the microphone, looking as if there were many places - Rio, Los Cabos, or Cocos Island itself, mingling with the remaining buff-banded rail birds - where he would rather be.

The Day Flipper Got Dragged Into Parliament