Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing, Disabilities and Carers) Share this | Hansard source

I will get to that. There are 940 islands in the Great Barrier Reef. It is the jewel in the crown of Australia’s natural assets. The northern part of the reef is believed to be 18 million years old and the southern part two million years old. This is our inheritance and it is our responsibility to protect it for future generations. Of course, we do not just have a responsibility to maintain the ecological integrity of the reef; we also have a responsibility to maintain the jobs and the regional towns that are dependent on a healthy reef. About 200,000 jobs are dependent on a healthy reef, generating about $4.3 billion for the Australian economy. Since I wrote this speech, I have received a copy of the Australian Research Council document called Discovery. The ARC talk about the reef’s value being $5 billion a year, with 68,000 people directly employed in industries associated with the reef.

But there are real threats to the reef’s future which this government simply will not acknowledge. The science is very clear. The unreleased Australian chapter of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report Climate Change 2007: Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability lays out a bleak future for the Great Barrier Reef. By 2020, the report says, 60 per cent the Great Barrier Reef could be regularly bleached. By 2050, 97 per cent could be bleached each year. By 2080, there could be ‘catastrophic mortality of coral species annually’ and a 95 per cent decrease in the distribution of Great Barrier Reef species. There could be a 65 per cent loss of Great Barrier Reef species in the Cairns region alone.

An international team of scientists working on the Great Barrier Reef has found a clear link between coral disease and warmer ocean temperatures. World-first research at 48 reefs spread along 1,500 kilometres of the GBR, combined with six years of satellite data on sea temperatures, has revealed ‘a highly significant relationship’ between ocean warming and the emergence of a disease known as white syndrome. White syndrome is one of a number of unexplained coral diseases which scientists have observed to be increasing globally in recent years.

The Great Barrier Reef is dying before our very eyes and, frankly, I do not think the Howard government cares. The government cannot say it was not warned. It has received report after report after report for almost a decade with similar warnings growing in strength with each report received. The Prime Minister cannot use the ‘I wasn’t aware’ excuse. Report after report, articles in scientific journals and the anecdotal evidence that we hear in North Queensland all the time are there for all to see. But the response we have received in terms of protecting our reef from global climate change has been nothing.

Look at the government’s own March 2005 Climate change risk and vulnerability report. That report identifies the reef as one of a handful of highly vulnerable regions that can be identified that should be given priority for further adaptation planning and response. The report says:

• Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef are expected to see multiple dimensions of change. The Reef itself is likely to suffer from coral bleaching events, which have long recovery times and flow on effects for the whole ecosystem. Climate model projections suggest that within 40 years water temperatures could be above the survival limit of corals.

You have to ask: what action has the Howard government undertaken in response to this stark warning?

This is not just an environmental question. A 2005 Access Economics study found tourism associated with the GBR generated over $US4.48 billion in 2004-05 and provided direct employment for about 63,000 people. The marine tourism industry is a major contributor to the local and Australian economies. In 2007 there were approximately 820 operators and 1,500 vessels and aircraft permitted to operate in the GBR Marine Park. Tourism attracts approximately 1.9 million visitors each year. That is the lifeblood of regional and local communities. That is the lifeblood of my city, Cairns, of Port Douglas in the Douglas shire, of Townsville, Mackay, Airlie Beach, the Whitsundays and areas further south. That is the economy that is being jeopardised by the inaction of the Commonwealth government on the issue of climate change. And that is why the Howard government’s line—a very calculated line—that Australians have to choose between a healthy economy and a healthy environment is such a dangerous one. Think about this: the reef brings millions of dollars into the Australian economy and is directly responsible for the employment of tens of thousands of Australians.

A forward-looking government would have responded to the reality that our reef is at serious threat and implemented a climate change strategy—a climate change strategy that should include the ratification of the Kyoto protocol and the cutting of Australia’s greenhouse pollution by 60 per cent by 2050. It would have included establishing a national emissions trading scheme and seriously investing in renewable energy and clean coal. A forward-looking government would have announced serious long-term measures to cut Australia’s soaring greenhouse pollution, but that is not what we have seen. Climate change is a massive challenge for Australia, but the Howard government is only now even acknowledging it exists, and only because the Prime Minister has read the opinion polls.

The other thing a forward-looking government would do is to cherish Australia’s past, recognising that our natural and cultural heritage is the cornerstone of our modern society. That is why I find it staggering that the government still has not placed the Great Barrier Reef on Australia’s National Heritage List. A National Heritage List without the Great Barrier Reef is like a rugby league hall of fame without Wally Lewis. But that is precisely what we have. Our National Heritage List came into force in January 2004. It is, frankly, astonishing that the government has not got around to putting it on the list. You can ask: is it incompetence, tardiness or forgetfulness? Or is the Howard government just taking the Great Barrier Reef for granted? Is it taking the people who depend on a healthy reef for granted? Frankly, climate change, not governance arrangements, is the real threat to the Great Barrier Reef.

The government did take a very courageous step when it announced it was protecting 33 per cent of the Great Barrier Reef from fishing and other extractive industries. I do pay tribute to the then environment minister, David Kemp, and Senator Robert Hill, both of whom seem to have a real interest in protecting our Great Barrier Reef. But what has the government done since then? It did announce the structural adjustment for the fishing industry. Initially the structural adjustment package was predicted to be worth $31 million. Now it has increased threefold, blowing out to more than $87 million, an extraordinary miscalculation on behalf of the government. Fishers and land based businesses that rely on reef derived income are entitled to compensation for economic loss caused under the Representative Areas Program, which increased the reef green zones. They did deserve compensation, but they do not deserve the mess that is the compensation package.

The National Party and some elements of the Liberal Party have worked hard to destroy Dr Kemp’s legacy, launching strong campaigns against the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the zoning plan. The then National Party senator elect, Senator Joyce, was quoted in the Courier-Mail on 1 March 2005 as opposing GBRMPA’s existence as an independent agency. He said:

“GBRMPA is out of control ...

…       …            …

“We are having too many problems and we should bring it totally under government control and baby-sit it for a while.”