Liberal senator Andrew McLachlan has called for the federal and state governments to “seriously and urgently pursue World heritage listing” of the Great Australian Bight, which was previously subject of widespread protests surrounding a now-abandoned offshore drilling plan.

Speaking in the senate last week, McLachlan said no “substantive action” had been taken by the government for the Bight’s protection since 1998, when the park was proclaimed under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act.

Supporting Australia’s largest southern bluefin tuna commercial fishery, the Bight is home to a variety of species, more than 85 per cent of which cannot be found anywhere else, according to the CSIRO.

“It’s also a place that defines beauty,” McLachlan said.

“A World Heritage listing will not prevent a sustainable fishing industry. What will and is threatening the tuna industry is the continued seismic testing for drilling at scale.”

McLachlan’s call has been supported by grassroots organisation Surfers for Climate.

“We want to protect our pristine ocean from the ongoing threat of unsustainable and carbon-polluting extractive processes,” CEO Josh Kirkman said.

“The Great Australian Bight is a coastal area of Australia that is abundant and worth protecting from future threats of resource extraction.

“Fishers, surfers, environmentalists, everyday people – they all want to ensure the Bight is free to flourish and thrive.”

To be included on the UNESCO World Heritage list, sites must be “of outstanding universal value” and meet at least one selection criteria.

Selection criteria include sites that “contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance”.

Initially, sites must be added to the Australian World Heritage Tentative List, indicating the intention to nominate for a World Heritage Listing. Sites must be on this list for at least 12 months before the Australian Government can nominate them for World Heritage Listing with UNESCO.

The Bight was previously at risk of offshore drilling in the area by Norwegian mining company Equinor, who abandoned the plans in 2020, saying the project’s potential was “not commercially competitive compared with other exploration opportunities”. The decision followed significant public backlash to the plans.

Kirkman said Surfers for Climate would keep working for more protections to the Bight.

“We will continue to work with Senator McLachlan and politicians from all sides of politics who understand protecting our oceans means protecting our communities, our businesses and our unique Aussie way of life for generations to come,” he said.

McLachlan is not the first politician to have called for a listing, with the Greens unveiling a plan for the Bight to become listed in 2019, while Equinor’s plans were still in play.

“We need to stop viewing our natural world as a resource to exploit,” McLachlan said.

“Exploitation really means the destruction of all our beautiful inheritance. Our society at present seeks endless growth through unconstrained consumption.

“We need to conserve the planet to sustain us. World Heritage protection for the Great Australian Bight is an important step on that journey.”