Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

Labor supports this referral to inquire into the health of the Great Barrier Reef. The government, led by Mr Morrison, has a woeful record on reef protection and the Morrison government needs to heed the warning from the World Heritage Committee considerations and to improve dramatically its efforts to protect the reef. The international community is obviously concerned about the reef and so are Australians. The reef supports 64,000 jobs, it produces billions of dollars in revenue in a non-COVID year and it is one of the natural wonders of the world. It's an invaluable part of our world's natural heritage and Labor wants it to remain that way.

Australians know—I think they understand now—that the Morrison government's incompetence has brought the reef to the brink; it's on the threshold of being placed on the in-danger list. The government have had a temporary reprieve, so let's hope that the reprieve provides the impetus they need to lift their game dramatically. But of course, like all things with this incompetent, tired and shambolic government, it's actually unclear what the government's attitude towards the reef is. Just weeks ago, the Minister for the Environment, Sussan Ley, lauded the Queensland government's reef regulations to the World Heritage Committee's decision-makers. They were central to the temporary reprieve Australia received on the in-danger listing for the reef. But now, back home, Senator McDonald—who Mr Joyce has recently had installed as Special Envoy for Northern Australia—has reportedly been saying she doesn't support the reef laws, those laws that are absolutely critical to protecting the reef and jobs in Northern Australia.

It's a pretty familiar story, isn't it, something we see time and time again: the Morrison government out there in the international community saying one thing and at home saying the complete opposite, with the Liberals pulling in one direction and the Nationals pulling in the other. Who would know what they actually think about this? Who would know what they intend to do? Who could trust a single thing offered by this Prime Minister in relation to almost any public policy question that you can imagine? It is never about the public interest. It is never about the question in hand. It is always some slick political game, some nasty trade-off between internal warring parties. We are not well served by this process.

If there is any issue where the public interest, the national interest, the international interest, the interests of generations to come, should be at the centre of decision-making, it is decision-making about the reef. Australians haven't forgotten the last catastrophic decision: $443 million handed over to an ill-equipped private foundation in a backdoor deal with no tender. The Morrison government has dragged its heels on the now overdue update to the Reef 2050 plan. We need a fair, transparent, objective assessment of reef health consistent with the appropriate standards. Australians would be devastated by an in-danger listing and Labor supports the referral.