Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

September 7 marks National Threatened Species Day, a day that commemorates the death of the last Tasmanian tiger in 1936. Fortunately, our practices towards threatened species have changed dramatically in the last 87 years, but we still have lost more mammals to extinction than any other continent on earth. That's why our government is working towards zero extinctions, endorsed by every state and territory.

As Special Envoy for the Great Barrier Reef, I think it's important for me to use this day to talk about the species that face threat along the reef, and the actions that our government is taking to combat these threats. There is an unexplainable thrill that you get from snorkelling along the Great Barrier Reef and seeing a green sea turtle. It's something that you never get used to, and you chase that feeling over and over again. But these animals aren't just significant for the joy that they bring us or the cultural importance that they hold for First Nations Australians. It's also about the balance that they bring to the reef's delicate ecosystem. They also bring millions of tourists to our shore each year to chase that thrill and to see a green sea turtle for themselves. Unfortunately, far too many species on the Great Barrier Reef are threatened. All six species of turtle that live on the reef are endangered or vulnerable. Dugongs, whales and dolphins are also facing threats. All shark species and sawfish species face threat as well. That's just not acceptable.

Unlike the previous government, the Albanese Labor government does not accept extinctions as inevitable. Sadly, the former government hid the state of the environment report. They failed to act on the Samuel review. They refused to act on climate change and they also refused to act on feral and invasive species. We are taking strong action to protect threatened species. We have invested a record $1.2 billion in protecting the Great Barrier Reef and we are working hard to protect and manage the reef's delicate ecosystem—whether that means culling the crown-of-thorns starfish or drupella snails that wreck the coral environments that so many of these animals call home; ensuring First Nations knowledge is integrated in recovery activities, recognising their 65,000 years of land and sea management; boosting the science happening on the reef by providing $15 million to the Coastal Marine Ecosystem Research Centre in Gladstone to continue their important seagrass research, which goes a long way to ensuring access to seagrass that dugongs and turtles eat. We've also doubled funding to AIMS, headquartered in Townsville, to ensure that the very best marine scientists can be out there on the water looking after our reef. We're working in partnership with the Queensland government so that the reef will be net-free by 2027.

We're taking the necessary steps to keep dugongs, turtles, dolphins, sharks and sawfish safe, and to protect the Great Barrier Reef at the same time. When you protect these animals and the reef, you protect Queensland jobs. We owe these creatures a chance, and if we don't take necessary action we will lose these species that we all love so much. That is a very sad reality. But I am so hopeful and so proud of the work that has been done on the Great Barrier Reef. I know there is still plenty of work for us to do. We are committed to protecting the reef and the animals that live there for generations to come so that we can see green turtles now and into the future.

I thank all of those Queenslanders that love and care for the Great Barrier Reef and for the sea animals that live underneath its waters. We will continue to work together with all those people who love and care for the reef, because we are a government working towards zero extinctions and because we know this is important not just for the health of the reef but for the health of the reef for generations to come.