April 29, 2017: The Turnbull Government’s band-aid plan to throw $500 million at the Great Barrier Reef ignores the simple reality of climate change.Julie Bishop and Josh Frydenberg today announced half a billion dollars would be set aside for the improvement of water quality, action on Crown of Thorns Starfish outbreaks, and research.
“The Great Barrier Reef is being killed by climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels,” Greenpeace Australia Pacific Climate and Energy Campaigner, Nikola Casule, said.
“Not only does this funding continue to focus on peripheral issues without tackling the real problem it also ignores the fact that if we continue to roll out the red carpet to projects like the Adani Carmichael mega-mine it won’t matter how much money the government sets aside – the waters will continue to warm.
“If Turnbull really wants to protect the Reef for future generations he will say no to Adani and commit Australia to a full and just transition away from fossil fuels.”
Casule said that no amount of money would help the Reef if extreme heat driven by climate change continued to warm the waters surrounding the coral.
“Any Australian government that wants to protect the Reef must outline and commit to a credible science-based plan to tackle climate change and move to rapidly reduce both our domestic emissions and those that we export.
“You can have coral or coal. You can’t have both.”