Warren Entsch (Leichhardt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for the Environment. Will the minister advise the House on the Morrison government's world-leading approach to the protection of our oceans, our marine parks and, more particularly, our Great Barrier Reef?

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

It's a pleasure to take a question from the member for Leichhardt, our dynamic reef envoy championing the reef on the national and international stage, and I want to thank him for his recent work leading a field trip of ambassadors to the reef to demonstrate the management that Australia takes so seriously—introducing the scientists, the work that is happening and the marine park managers.

The Morrison government is deeply invested in protecting the World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef. The tourism industry, traditional owners, farmers, fishers, scientists, marine park managers and reef communities all rely on our commitment to the reef, demonstrated by a $3 billion joint investment with the Queensland government. Benchmarked against global standards, Australia's management of the reef is considered by many to be the gold standard. This was acknowledged recently by the technical experts to the World Heritage Committee, whose advice in the lead-up to this year's meeting said that it:

Commends the State Party—

Australia—

for the strong and continued efforts to create conditions for the implementation of the Reef 2050 Long-term Sustainability Plan … including through unprecedented financial commitments.

The centrepiece of Australia's reef protection efforts is indeed the Reef 2050 Plan. The core proposition of this plan is how we make the reef as healthy and resilient as it possibly can be in the face of its biggest challenge, climate change. The plan is being delivered and it's achieving results. We've reduced pressures on the reef, we've built reef resilience and we've strengthened partnerships for the future. We're pleased that a bid by UNESCO to 'in danger' list the Great Barrier Reef was overwhelming rejected by the World Heritage Committee at the recent 44th session. In fact, the words 'in danger' did not appear anywhere on the final decision. Twenty of 21 members of the committee spoke in support of Australia's position that the reef should not be in-danger listed, an overwhelming consensus.

And it's not just on the Great Barrier Reef where we're leading the world in environmental management. As part of the last budget, we had a $100 million investment to continue our world- and region-leading work: blue carbon technology, getting plastic out of the oceans, restoring ecosystems and contributing to the global task of reducing emissions. This builds on our re-establishment of oyster reefs along the coastline, our determination to tackle ghost nets—those walls of death in the water—and our beach clean-ups in communities up and down our coastline. We are recognised as a global leader in ocean protection—assisting our Pacific neighbours, leading by example in our domestic waters—and we will continue to protect the iconic Great Barrier Reef.