Outcome:	2. Antarctic			Question No:  3
Division/Agency:	AAD
Topic:	Albatross Recovery
Hansard Page ECITA:	68 & 71

Senator Bartlett asked:
Senator BARTLETT—Is there an Australian based albatross recovery team?
Dr Press—There is an albatross recovery plan, but that is not my particular area of responsibility.
Senator BARTLETT—Who handles that? The Tasmanian government?
Dr Press—No.
Senator BARTLETT—I can wait. That is all right. I just need to know who to ask.
Dr Press—It is not in my department. I will give you the advice on that.
Senator BARTLETT—As long as I get an idea of whose department it is with, I can ask at the time.
....
Senator BARTLETT—I really just wanted to get a sense of what the albatross recovery team is doing now: whether it is meeting, who makes it up and what work it is doing. I do not mind if you take that on notice
for whoever handles it.
Dr Press—We will.

Answer/s:
No. The team that developed the 2001 albatross recovery plan has not met in recent years and there is no longer an imperative for them to do so. The most significant elements of the albatross recovery plan are now undertaken as part of implementing the 2006 threat abatement plan for the incidental bycatch of seabirds during oceanic longline fishing, and through the multi-lateral Agreement for the Conservation of Albatross and Petrels (ACAP). A key goal of ACAP is to reduce and eliminate seabird bycatch in fisheries, including in longline fisheries on the global high seas which cause the greatest mortality of albatross.

Outcome:	2. Antarctic			Question No:  4
Division/Agency:	AAD
Topic:	Antarctic Air Link
Hansard Page ECITA:	70

Senator Milne asked:
Senator MILNE—In relation to the Antarctic air link, I presume there will need to be an additional allocation and collaboration between the Antarctic division and other areas of government on the quarantine and biosecurity arrangements.
...
Senator MILNE—Is the biosecurity or quarantine plan available anywhere?
Dr Press—I will take that on notice and I will make that information available to the committee.

Answer/s:
The Australian Antarctic Division applies Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) guidelines to its intercontinental aircraft operations. These guidelines are available on the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry website (www.daff.gov.au). A Memorandum of Understanding between the Australian Antarctic Division and Quarantine Tasmania is also in place and they act as local agents for AQIS on outbound/inbound flights.
 
An Initial Environmental Evaluation has been in place for the Airlink since 2003. This information is available on the Australian Antarctic Division website. 

Outcome:	2. Antarctic			Question No:  5
Division/Agency:	AAD
Topic:	Visits to Antarctica
Hansard Page ECITA:	70

Senator MacDonald asked:
Senator IAN MACDONALD—It is an exciting new phase; well done. Just a final sensitive question, perhaps to the minister: will the arrangement where politicians irregularly went to the Antarctic on the ship for learning experiences now transfer to the plane, or have we not gone that far yet?
Senator Abetz—Perhaps we should send the government members by the plane and opposition members by the boat, if they are still going! I am not sure what the answer is on that and I will take that on notice. It is a fair question, and I think giving parliamentarians an understanding of that vast part of Australia’s territory is important. Those parliamentarians from all sides of politics who have gone there rave about the experience for years afterwards, so I think it is worthy if we can keep that opportunity available.

Answer/s:
AAD will be factoring into its programme opportunities to showcase its Antarctic work.