Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Griffith, having said she wanted to see an end to politicising the reef, proceeded to do just that—by cynically denigrating our world-leading management of the reef and our investment in it. So the member for Griffith criticises the government's funding of the Great Barrier Reef foundation—she made that very clear in her remarks—and other members of the opposition followed the same talking points. The Great Barrier Reef Foundation is a charity that has, for 20 years, worked tirelessly to deliver reef protection projects. It has made significant progress since 2018, despite constant criticism from the opposition. There are 60 different reef protection projects happening on the ground in regional Queensland today. The foundation has brought together the very best in our science and conservation community to respond to the key threats of this environmental icon and economic driver. Maybe that would explain why the member for Fremantle, who followed the member for Griffith, actually praised the efforts of reef scientists and their globally leading work to help reefs adapt to the effects of climate change. Guess what? That program, that work that was lauded by the member for Fremantle, is actually funded by none other than the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, which, again, Labor seeks to denigrate. I remember sitting on the front bench here and listening to this ongoing criticism of the $443 million investment in the Great Barrier Reef and not really understanding, but Labor, having had a bit of time to reflect, still seems to be of that view and it is completely senseless.

I want to challenge those who would support that view to visit any of our great reef-facing communities today—Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, the Whitsundays, Rockhampton and others—and ask the local community about the work on the ground right now that is making a difference courtesy of the foundation's work and the Morrison government's investment in the reef, thanks to the strong advocacy of members of this side of the House. I challenge them to visit one of the 72 Indigenous communities that hold aspirations for the reef, their sea country. They will tell you the reef trust partnership is working, that it is making a difference and that they're proud to be part of it.

In the last week alone, the foundation announced the establishment of a reef restoration hub in Cairns to help the tourism sector and the use of breakthrough science that links the positive impact of probiotics and coral health, and they demonstrated how technology can help protect endangered turtles—all things where I wouldn't have thought there would be any disagreement about their importance, significance and need for funding.

The member for Griffith then went on to claim that it was Labor that was solely responsible for the creation of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park in 1975. The full story would remind Australians that it was bipartisan support which resulted in the enactment of a Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act in 1975. And it was the Fraser Liberal government which in 1975 banned oil and gas operations on the Great Barrier Reef and deemed the reef to be of World Heritage standard. The first stage of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was declared by the Fraser Liberal government in 1979. In 1981, it was under the stewardship of a Liberal government that the Great Barrier Reef won World Heritage status. You won't hear this from Labor, just like you won't hear that it was the Howard government that expanded protected no-take zones from five percent to 33 per cent of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Instead, Labor seeks to carp and criticise, but they didn't create the world's largest representative network of protected marine parks. They tried, but they failed. It was the Liberal National Party that succeeded. Labour haven't committed $1.9 billion of world-leading investment in the reef. The coalition has. The Liberal Party and the National Party have a proud legacy of protecting and investing in not only the Great Barrier Reef but all of our marine ecosystems. This shines as a beacon of gold-standard management for our country and for the world.

Once again, can I thank my colleagues. Can I thank the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority for the work that they do now during this difficult time of COVID, for their support for tourism, for recreational commercial fishing and for the scientists and other visitors who come to our reef and always come away amazed and filled with wonder.

Again, this bill will provide financial relief to the Great Barrier Reef tourism industry and other relevant permission holders impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The government will ensure that there's no reduction in the revenue that goes to the management of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Once again, I commend the bill to the House.

See this speech in context