Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for the Environment and Energy, Senator Birmingham. The world is horrified at recent press reports of the totally unexpected and unpredicted back-to-back mass coral-bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef, the fourth bleaching event in 20 years. Last year's survey of the reef found that 81 per cent of the northern sector was severely bleached and damaged. Reports this week from Professor Terry Hughes, of the James Cook University ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, have suggested that the central section of the reef, from Mackay to Port Douglas, arguably the most important to the tourism industry, is now also suffering from severe bleaching. Can the minister please inform the chamber of the government's understanding of the extent of damage to the reef from warming waters this year and the long-term consequences of this damage?