House debates Questions without Notice

Great Barrier Reef Foundation

Wednesday, 17 October 2018 House of Representatives

Mr Tony Burke

Mr Tony Burke Watson, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business (House)

2:37 pm

My question is for the Minister for the Environment. I refer to the government's almost half a billion dollar grant to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. How much of that money could be spent on administration and scaling-up activities?

Melissa Price

Melissa Price Durack, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment

I would like to thank the member for his question. This is a good opportunity to talk about the reef. We know about this $440 million grant to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. We all know that the reef requires an enormous amounts of effort in terms of the science needed. And there has been a considerable amount done already by the foundation. We've already identified $200 million with respect to water, a significant amount of money to research more broadly, a significant amount of money for resilience and also a small amount of money with respect to administration.

Unidentified interjection - Hansard doesn't record who said this

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Tony Smith

Tony Smith Speaker

Members on my right, including the Deputy Prime Minister, are preventing the—

An opposition member interjecting—

Don't dob on the Leader of the House!