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

The day of 8 June marked World Oceans Day, which was an opportunity to recognise the immense environmental, economic and cultural value of our oceans, including the Great Barrier Reef. I was lucky to spend World Oceans Day on Lady Elliot Island to announce funding that our government is committing to continue the incredible work that is taking place there. Our government is working to protect and strengthen the Great Barrier Reef, in the face of climate change, plastic pollution and other threats, through a record $1.2 billion investment. This includes $150 million to boost efforts to improve the water quality flowing through to the reef, $162 million for the Crown-of-thorns Starfish Control Program and $15.1 million for the Tourism Reef Protection Initiative, a fantastic program that I got to see firsthand on Lady Elliot Island.

We're also securing the future of AIMS in Townsville by investing $163.4 million in that agency, and we're working to ensure the Great Barrier Reef is free of gillnets by 2027. We're tackling deadly ghost nets in the northern Queensland waters, and we're working to strengthen traditional owners in their role as reef managers, including by establishing a sea-country alliance.

I am so proud of the work that our government has achieved through this important progress in our first year to improve the health and outlook of the Great Barrier Reef. I want to acknowledge the work of all of our fantastic agencies, from GBRMPA and AIMS to the department and our partners throughout Queensland, who are protecting the Great Barrier Reef for generations to come. Those Australians who love the reef and rely on the reef for their jobs know that the LNP put the reef at risk, in real terms and reputationally, and that only a Labor government will protect it.