Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for the Environment. After losing 50 per cent of the coral cover of the Great Barrier Reef since 2015, UNESCO has today recommended that the reef be listed as World Heritage in danger, pointing out that climate change is the biggest threat to the reef. They have warned Australia of this since 2012, yet the minister today claimed to have been blindsided and stunned by the decision. How did the government manage to miss the memo that without significant action to address climate change an in-danger listing is likely? Or is the minister just stunned that your eight years of lobbying other nations to ignore the science has finally failed?

Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Waters. The Morrison government is deeply committed to protecting the World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef. We fully recognise that the Great Barrier Reef is facing pressure from climate change and from other impacts, but we do not support the recommendation to immediately place the reef on the list of World Heritage in danger and we will strongly oppose that recommendation. We think that this recommendation is premature and doesn't recognise the enormous efforts of the Australian and Queensland governments working with farmers and working with tourism operators, traditional owners and communities, right up and down the reef coast, to protect the reef and supporting them with a $3 billion joint investment.

The government has been stunned by the backflip on previous assurances from UN officials that the reef would not face such a recommendation prior to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting that's being hosted by China this July. We are also concerned about a deviation from normal processes in assessing World Heritage property conservation status. The UNESCO draft decision has been made on the basis of a desktop review with insufficient firsthand appreciation of the outstanding science based strategies being jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland governments.

The last visit to the Great Barrier Reef by UNESCO officials was, in fact, in 2014. The Great Barrier Reef is the best managed reef in the world, and this draft recommendation has been made without examining the reef firsthand and without the latest information. Indeed, of the 83 in danger properties that have been identified by UNESCO, this is the only one that has been singled out, which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Of the 83 properties that have been assessed, this is the only one that has been singled out. All properties could end up on that in-danger list with no prospect of any individual state or party being able to get them off. (Time expired)

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Waters, a supplementary question?

Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Your government's inaction on the climate crisis now threatens the 60,000 jobs that rely on the Great Barrier Reef. You won't commit even to net zero by 2050—and now the National Party certainly won't let you do that—but the rest of the world is focused on 2030, and the G7 has called for strong 2030 targets and no new investment in fossil fuels. When will you put the interests of the environment, the economy and our tourism sector ahead of the interests of your fossil fuel donors?

Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Firstly, I reject the premise of that question. Minister Ley, the Minister for the Environment, has said on multiple occasions that climate change is the biggest threat to the reef. But the World Heritage Committee is not the forum to make a point about climate change. Moreover, there are more than 80 World Heritage properties that UNESCO has identified as being under threat from climate change, which we all agree is a global problem that requires a global multilateral solution. If UNESCO had decided to list all of them, then that policy would potentially be understandable. But to pick only one out of 80 is a subversion of process. This decision and the motivations behind it are indeed baffling. It sends a very poor message to countries that are not making the investments in reef protection that Australia is.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Waters, a final supplementary question?

Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The new Deputy Prime Minister claims to represent rural Australia, and one of the country's most profitable regional assets is the Great Barrier Reef. With the UN recommending that the reef be put on the endangered list, when will you stop digging and burning the coal and gas which are killing the reef?

Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For over 40 years, the Australian and Queensland governments have been working together in a strong cooperative approach to protecting, conserving and managing the reef. This has included the establishment of a standalone management agency, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Authority. In 2015, Australia embarked on a new long-term adaptive planning approach to protecting the reef, and the centrepiece of that is the 35-year Reef 2050 Long-term Sustainability Plan. The Reef 2050 plan is delivered jointly between the Australian and Queensland governments in collaboration with local governments, traditional owners, researchers, industries and communities. The World Heritage Committee asked the government to accelerate efforts to meet the targets of the Reef 2050 plan, and we have done exactly that. The Australian and Queensland governments are investing more than $3 billion from the 2014-15 to 2023-24 budgets to implement the Reef 2050 plan. More than $2 billion of this is from the Australian government, an unprecedented investment. (Time expired)