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

I withdraw that.

And this is on us. Every environmental problem you can name is first and foremost a political problem because only politics, politicians and political pathways can fix it. Not only are we not acting anywhere near fast enough on rising global emissions; we're actually trying to deny at the most official levels that the Great Barrier Reef and its outstanding universal values—exactly why UNESCO declared it of world heritage value—are in danger. We're actually out there lobbying to deny that it's in danger from these marine heatwaves caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

I don't need to remind senators in this chamber of the contribution Australia makes not just through its own emissions footprint but in the exports of fossil fuels. We have an inherent conflict of interest here as a nation that is one of the biggest exporters and highest per capita polluters on the planet as well as the custodian of this global treasure. It's high time we recognise that we need to do everything we possibly can to save the Great Barrier Reef.

While reefs can recover from coral bleaching, they won't recover if we see increased frequency and intensity of these marine heatwaves. While we're weeks away from finding out the extent of the current mass coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef—by the way, senators and everyone in the chamber today: this is the fifth mass coral bleaching that we've seen on the Great Barrier Reef in eight years. The first recorded coral bleaching was in 1998. The second was the year I started in the Senate: 2012. The reef at least had time to recover from those coral bleachings. We have now seen five in eight years, including back-to-back bleachings, which our best climate models predicted wasn't possible until 2050. We've already seen that. Unfortunately, the early indications are that this fifth mass coral bleaching in the last eight years is going to be a bad one.

What will we do to reflect on that? Will we try to cover it up at UNESCO? Will we send ministers and senior bureaucrats to go to UNESCO to lobby against an 'endangered' listing? Why would we be hiding the fact that the reef is dying on our watch and it's our fault? Why would we possibly do that when letting the world know the truth about the barrier reef—in fact, all the world's coral reefs—might just be the siren we need to get action.

Half a billion people around the world rely on coral reefs for their livelihoods. I don't need to remind senators about the 64,000 jobs on the Great Barrier Reef, the tourism industry that brings in people from all around the world and the contribution to our economy. It's all at risk if this continues. Let's look at the predictions. Our best science, through the IPCC, tells us that if we get to two degrees of warming above preindustrial levels, we will see a 99 per cent decline in coral reefs all around the world, including the Great Barrier Reef. Where are we at now? Some forecasts already have us at 1.5 degrees warming above preindustrial levels. It's already happening. As I've just mentioned, there have been five mass-bleaching events from marine heatwaves in eight years. Imagine what two degrees is going to be like. In fact, imagine what three degrees warming is going to be like for future generations. That is the legacy we are leaving them by hiding the fact that the Great Barrier Reef is in danger if we don't act.

A few weeks ago, when I asked the Minister representing the Minister for the Environment and Water for an update, she was unable to provide that because she didn't have a brief. I've had a quick look at the social media of the environment minister, Minister Plibersek. I've seen one video that she's done from her office about this greatest of global tragedies that's unfolding right before our very eyes in real time.

We don't just talk about the environmental impacts of this. We also talk about the impacts on humans, communities and their livelihoods. We need to act. We need a political pathway to act. People will not vote for climate action and vote for change if they are being deceived about what is going on below the waves and below the water. Well, I've seen it firsthand, and I know that others in this chamber have also seen it. It's only going to get worse unless we act. The only way we're going to fix it is in places like the Australian Senate and in the Australian parliament, by showing some leadership on the global stage and not trying to deceive and cover up what is actually going on with the Great Barrier Reef.

Today, I call on the federal environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, to go to the Great Barrier Reef. Go and have a look for yourself, and make a video from the Great Barrier Reef. Make a video to show the world what's going on. Why would we hide this? I'll leave you to decide what the possible motivations might be.

When I chaired the first Senate inquiry into warming oceans in 2016-17, we visited the Great Barrier Reef. It appeared to me that it was the tourism industry that didn't want to talk about the reef being in danger from global warming, but it has also occurred to me that there are a lot of other vested interests that don't want to see UNESCO recognising the absolute peril that the Great Barrier Reef is in, like fossil fuel interests that donate to big political parties and governments that don't want to be forced to act. We are not going to let you off the hook. People are waking up to the fact that the planet is changing and not for the better. Oceans are absolutely critical to our communities right around the country.

Next week, members of the Great Southern Reef Foundation, abalone fishers, sea urchin fishers and processors are coming to Canberra to talk about the changes they are seeing underwater on the Great Southern Reef. The Great Southern Reef, sister of the Great Barrier Reef, also has the scourge of invasive species or overabundant native species, like long-spined sea urchins. The Great Southern Reef is getting next to no funding from Parliament House in Canberra. It is arguably more important than the Great Barrier Reef in so many ways, given its contribution to the Australian economy and the number of people who are employed in commercial fishing sectors that are suffering because of warming oceans, marine heatwaves and rising emissions. We have to act not just for future generations but for communities right around the country, and when you see oyster farmers going out of business in New South Wales, which was also reported this week, because of unprecedented record high sea temperatures off the coast of New South Wales, you realise the economic costs of not acting.

This government, just like previous governments, can fly around the world and lobby countries at UNESCO to vote against an endangered listing, but it's not going to help. It's not going to make any difference to the Great Barrier Reef. If we continue on this trajectory of burning more fossil fuels and not acting on mitigating emissions then the reef, as we have been lucky enough to know it in our lifetimes, will be gone. It is already in a sad state of affairs right now, and it will only get worse if, in places like the Australian parliament, we don't do what's required to safeguard the future of the reef.