Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business (House)) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the environment minister. Earlier in question time today the environment minister said that the department assessed the foundation's proposal. When did the department receive the foundation's proposal? Was it before or after they were offered half a billion dollars?

Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Watson wasn't listening very carefully, because I said that on 29 May the foundation finalised their proposal. What is very clear is that when we met, firstly on 9 April, with the foundation to elicit whether they were interested in partnering with the government—

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

Mr Burke interjecting—

Well, I would have thought the member for Watson, like the member for Sydney, would welcome half a billion dollars into the reef to underpin regional jobs. That's the key here. The fact is that there was an extensive process of my department working together with the foundation. And when I wrote to the foundation chair, I made it clear that the formal offer of any Australian government funds is dependent on negotiating and executing a new grant agreement. We received their final proposal on 29 May, and on 20 June, under section 71 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act, I approved the grant to the foundation. Having considered a detailed assessment of the application by my department, which recommended to me that 'this would meet the government's policy objective to protect and manage the Great Barrier Reef' and 'would represent value for money and a proper use of Commonwealth resources' and 'would be consistent with the provision of the governance and accountability act', we have succeeded in putting a record amount of funding into the Barrier Reef where Labor failed—money into saving the reef and advancing its health, tackling the crown-of-thorns starfish, investing in the science, partnering with farmers to prevent sediment, nitrogen and pesticide run-off. What did Australia's Chief Scientist say when we announced this half a billion dollars? He said, 'It's a great day for the reef and it's a great day for science.' What did the head of the tourism operators in that part of Queensland say? He said, 'It underpins regional jobs in Queensland.' And what did the chair of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority say when we announced that half a billion dollars? He said, 'This is a game changer.' I want to make it clear: there is a 100-page document between the government and the foundation. (Time expired)