Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I utterly reject the premise of that question. Let me be very clear: I reject the premise. As I was saying, the minister welcomed the mission's feedback when they were here in March and it will be taken into account when finalising the terms of reference of the strategic assessment. There were no surprises in either report's findings to the Australian government. The threats to the reef highlighted in the reports are clearly acknowledged in the Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report that was prepared by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority in 2009. UNESCO continue to acknowledge that the government's management of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area is considered to be international best practice in many areas. We do not just operate on the basis of text messages being sent around the place. Let us be clear: the mission report recognised the excellence of many aspects of the management— (Time expired)