Macquarie Island Marine Park set to triple in size

The federal government is set to triple the size of the park after Ms Plibersek signed off on a final design for the expansion on Monday, which will allow two fisheries to continue operating.

The department will provide the fisheries with more room than they were previously allowed, however their application to trawl in the area has been rejected.

"They won't be doing that now and they certainly won't be doing that in the future," Ms Plibersek told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

The department received more than 14,000 public responses to the proposal and only a handful opposed the addition, Ms Plibersek said.

The park covers 162,000 square kilometres halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica, and will grow to cover 475,465sq km.

The park's expansion is about protecting the oceans for future generations, she said.

"This announcement is part of our mission to conserve Australia's special places, particularly those that are home to threatened species.

"Macquarie Island is an exceptional place - it's a remote wildlife wonderland, a critical breeding ground for millions of seabirds, seals and penguins," she said.

Its residents include rockhopper penguins, the subantarctic fur seal, with large southern elephant seal populations also calling the area home.

The park's increase in size by 385,000sq/km will mean marine parks now make up over 48 per cent of Australian oceans.

Ms Plibersek said Australians understood the health of the nation was tied to the natural world.

"I am determined to protect more of what's precious, to repair more of what's damaged and to manage nature better for the future," she said.

An area larger than Germany that covers 93 per cent of the park will be completely off limits to fishing, mining and other extractive activities.

Macquarie Island was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997, with the marine park extending about 1500km southeast of Tasmania and deep into the Southern Ocean.

Australian Associated Press