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

[by video link] I'm in continuation, having spoken to this motion roughly a month ago. At that time I was imploring the Senate to support this reference to the Environment and Communications References Committee, to look at the government's premeditated, long-term lobbying to stop the Great Barrier Reef from being declared endangered by UNESCO. Now we've had the details from the COP26 negotiations in Glasgow, and what we found out last week—through leaked documents—was that the government attempted to make amendments to recommendations to the delegation that more World Heritage sites be protected from 1.5 degrees of warming and that all nations pledge to keep warming to 1.5 degrees to protect UNESCO World Heritage listed sites. The leaked documents showed that our government had tried to remove that clause relating to 1.5 degrees. Now, why on earth would the Australian government—that is, the custodian of this great natural wonder of the world—want to remove something as simple and fundamental to the future protection of the reef as limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees above 2005 levels? That is what we signed up to at the Paris Agreement. This is what was on display at Glasgow.

We know that our government managed to weaken the language around coal, as to removing and phasing out coal, but what I want the committee to explore is not just Minister Ley's recent jetsetting off to lobby the World Heritage Committee, back in May this year, where she flew from country to country, no doubt offering dirty deals, to get the support of those committee members for leaving the reef off UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger. I'd also like to examine the long-term, premeditated push by this government which started back in 2016 to make sure that the Great Barrier Reef was never listed as in danger from climate change by UNESCO.

Now, I chaired a select committee into the $444 million that was given to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, a small private foundation that was raising money from philanthropy to invest in projects for restoring reef health and raising advocacy and awareness on the state of the Barrier Reef. That was a very controversial grant—$444 million. Money that was going to go to other agencies was suddenly being channelled through this small private foundation.

After taking evidence—significant evidence—over many months, in many locations, we really were none the wiser as to what the key motivation of this government was back in 2017-18 to give the money to this agency. I wrote, as chair of that committee, to the National Audit Commission asking that they look into this audit. It turns out that the email that kicked off this entire process was around wanting to avoid a World Heritage in-danger listing for the Great Barrier Reef—so, $444 million to try to head off a World Heritage in-danger listing, or a process that could lead to that in-danger listing.

Here we are, going into 2022, and since then the reef has suffered another two mass coral bleachings. People may not be aware, but the Great Barrier Reef didn't see any mass coral bleachings from marine heatwaves until 1998. There'd been a mass coral bleaching in Barbados in the 1960s that was disputed by scientists at the time, but we'd never seen global marine heatwaves impact the Great Barrier Reef until 1998. We found that a number of climate scientists who were warning about a future of mass coral bleachings and marine heatwaves were shocked when in 2016 we had the biggest mass coral bleaching on record: 30 per cent of the coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef was lost from that 2016 bleaching.

Climate scientists told our committee, the Senate Environment and Communications References Committee, in a separate inquiry into warming oceans that they did not believe it was possible, on the best climate models, that we could get back-to-back mass coral bleachings until 2050—and that's exactly what we got: a back-to-back bleaching in 2016 and 2017. Then, as if we weren't shocked enough, we got another mass coral bleaching in 2019. That's four mass coral bleachings from marine heatwaves in nearly 10 years. Plus we had storm damage from cyclones. We had pollution on the reef. We have invasive crown-of-thorns starfish. There have been so many cumulative pressures on the Great Barrier Reef.

No-one is in any doubt—except this government—that the future of the reef is in danger. The committee needs to examine why this government is so hell-bent on avoiding a World Heritage in-danger listing. I have my own theories. If the Great Barrier Reef was to be declared in danger from climate change—which was the advice of the scientific committee to UNESCO, which our government so ferociously lobbied to undermine—it would make it a lot harder for this government to continue to build new coalmines, because it would be required to have a plan for reducing Australia's emissions. As custodian of the reef, the government would be required to take effective, drastic and radical climate action. It wouldn't be able to get away with being in the pocket of fossil fuel industries and approving massive gas projects like the Beetaloo Basin, a fracking project in the Northern Territory that has four times the carbon footprint of the Adani coalmine and will increase our national emissions by 20 per cent—the equivalent of 68 years of our current carbon footprint in one project.

The Greens will be testing the chamber's support on whether we agree with that project going ahead later this year. But this is exactly the issue at heart here: will this country, will Australia as custodian of the Great Barrier Reef—this greatest natural wonder of the world—take the climate action necessary and show the leadership necessary to secure the future of the reef for our kids? No matter what we do, even at 1.2 degrees of global warming we've already lost half the coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef. Unless we reduce our emissions by 75 per cent by 2030, our current business-as-usual emissions scenario will put this nation and this world on the path of three to four degrees of warming. If the world doesn't act radically, that is the end of the Great Barrier Reef; that is the end of the world's great coral reefs as we know them.

I think that's another reason this government is so hell-bent on making sure the Great Barrier Reef is not declared in danger: because the Great Barrier Reef is actually in better shape than many of the world's other UNESCO coral reefs. Of course, the government comes out and asks, 'Why aren't the other reefs being declared in danger?' I have no doubt they will be if the Great Barrier Reef is declared in danger. But what stronger signal could we send? What louder siren call could we make than to declare the world's reefs in danger from climate change? That's what's going to be required to get action.

At least 500 million people depend on the world's coral reefs for their livelihoods. Are we going to sit by while we cook the oceans or while we go out and explore for more oil and gas in the oceans? Our government just opened up 80,000 square kilometres of Australia's oceans to new oil and gas exploration this year—80,000 square kilometres, at a time when the International Energy Agency has said no more fossil fuel exploration from 2021. That's coming from the conservative International Energy Agency: this is the year that we end all fossil fuel exploration.

This is directly linked to the fate of the Great Barrier Reef and it needs to be exposed. So this inquiry reference before the chamber today is a very short and simple inquiry into the Great Barrier Reef and the World Heritage in-danger-listing process. It is absolutely crucial that we pass this today, because in Paris on 26 November the Australian government will be there, lobbying the world again to take the Great Barrier Reef off any proposal for a World Heritage in-danger listing. No-one denies that the Great Barrier Reef is in danger except this government. Why push climate denial at such an important time in history? This is at a time when we're told by the United Nations that this is code red for humanity. This is when a Conservative politician like Boris Johnson has said that the world is at one minute to midnight if we don't act.

And what do we do? We try to convince the world that the world's largest coral reef system—2,000 kilometres which can be seen from space—is not in danger from climate change, and that UNESCO and the World Heritage Committee should not list it as in danger. That's exactly what we should be doing if we actually want action on climate: no more climate denial; we need to take action, and action won't come while we deny that what we're seeing unfold before our very own eyes is happening. It is very real and it can't be swept under the rug because this government is in bed with fossil fuel interests. It takes donations from fossil fuel interests and it's doing whatever it can to silence the Greens and others out there who are lobbying for effective climate action.

I urge the Senate to consider this reference and to vote in support of it. There has never been a more important time than now to act. I'm happy to keep talking if you want, Acting Deputy President Fawcett!

David Fawcett (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, we've heard quite enough thank you, Senator Whish-Wilson. Your time has expired.

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

I'm sure you have!

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to 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.

David Fawcett (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, Minister.

Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party, Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government makes no apologies for standing up for the national interest and defending our tourism industry, traditional owners, reef communities and 64,000 Australian jobs up and down the reef. We will continue to work with UNESCO and the World Heritage Committee to protect the long-term future of the reef and with the Queensland government in ensuring that the strategies under the Reef 2050 plan are delivering the best possible outcomes for the reef. The World Heritage Committee's endorsement of Australia's position will give reef managers, marine scientists and land managers the ability to demonstrate the success of the outstanding work that is taking place across the reef. The procedures and decisions of the World Heritage Committee are all publicly available.

Slade Brockman (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the reference to the Environment and Communications References Committee be agreed to.