Maritime Australia: Its Links to Regional Australia

Australia has management of and responsibility for the fourth-largest maritime jurisdiction in the world. As an island continent this maritime domain provides Australia with resources and vital links to the rest of the world and to and from regional Australia. Maritime Australia is an area twice the size of the Australian landmass, extending from tropical to Antarctic waters that contain diverse and globally important marine environments. This domain supports a number of commercial fisheries, significant offshore oil and gas production areas, and location of major industry, infrastructure, tourism industries and recreational activities. Management of Australia’s marine and coastal areas have reflected an incremental and sectoral-oriented focus. Until recently the nation has lacked any notion of an overarching framework for managing this significant part of Australia’s jurisdiction. With initiatives developed in the late 1990s currently stalled it is appropriate to revisit the question of a ‘national’ oceans policy and reiterate its relevance to regional Australi