Warren Entsch (Leichhardt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for the Environment. Will the minister outline to the House the Morrison government's commitment to the long-term health and sustainability of the Great Barrier Reef?

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm delighted to take a question from the dynamic and determined reef envoy, the member for Leichhardt.

The Morrison government is deeply committed to protecting the World-Heritage-Listed Great Barrier Reef. We have the best-managed reef in the world, something that has been demonstrated time and time again.

The reef is big enough to see from outer space and is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. But we see the reef through the eyes of its communities on the ground, up and down 2,300 kilometres of coastline and 400,000 square kilometres of catchment, with 64,000 jobs depending on it. That's from the farmers, whose land management practices link with water quality, to the recreational fishers, the Indigenous rangers spearing crown-of-thorns starfish, the citizen scientists the tourism operators, the small businesses and the many Australians who live between Fraser Island and the Torres Strait.

We are with the reef for the long haul and we have backed the reef 2050 management plan with over $2 billion of investment. The success of that plan is acknowledged by many, including the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, which in this year's World Heritage Committee meeting commended Australia for our strong and continued efforts, including through unprecedented financial commitments.

We continue to make our reef the most healthy and resilient it can be in the face of the global challenge of climate change. We're not about heavy-handed regulation; our reef communities are our champions and our partners—like the Destro family, who are canegrowers in Far North Queensland. They manage around 2,000 thousands of acres of cane and they partnered with us on one of our water-quality projects. Now the Destros are considered to be at the cutting edge of best cane-farming practices, with Mrs Destro saying there's not only less run-off leaving the farm but there's more profitability as well.

It's like our partnership with TurtleCare Volunteers on the Wreck Rock turtle project, the goal of which is to increase the number of turtle hatchlings on the stretch of coastline between Agnes Water and Bundaberg. Nev McLachlan, who, along with his wife, Bev, have been leading this monitoring program for 40 years, said, 'We want to contribute to ensure that future generations of turtles will be nesting at Wreck Rock for all future generations of our families to appreciate.' Or it's like the scientists in the tourism industry coming together to deliver local reef restoration. They're trialling coral nurseries to propagate corals and then planting them on areas of the reef to accelerate recovery. It's like the Indigenous women leading work on sea country, looking after waterways and looking after seagrass habitats and wildlife.

We carry Australia's pride in the reef, we guard against those who would be cavalier with its reputation and we're optimistic about the future of the reef and the communities and jobs which depend on it.