Matt Smith (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is late on a Thursday afternoon. This time tomorrow I will be back in beautiful Leichhardt—one of the best places in Australia. Even you, Speaker, despite your passion and love for Oxley, must acknowledge the natural beauty of Leichhardt. Where else can you visit the tourist magnets of Cairns and Port Douglas?

I was actually just up in Mossman, Port Douglas just a couple of weeks back running community offices, catching up with council and community groups and visiting the Mossman Botanic Garden. One of the groups I met was the Low Isles Preservation Society. For those who don't know, the conservation group is dedicated to the protection, preservation and I guess the projection of the Low Isles, which are just off the coast of Port Douglas. Reef trippers from all around the world go there. Not long ago the group got a grant of just under $7,000, through the federal government's Stronger Communities Program, to help them deliver educational panels and signage to help them with their mission and to educate our youth. The grant was obviously sourced by the former member and delivered by the Albanese Labor government.

Supporting local conservation groups is so important, as making sure we have passionate locals protecting these places is the best way to keep them safe. Locals always know best. I'm really keen to make sure we're helping groups up in my electorate like the Low Isles Preservation Society protect Far North Queensland. One of the things that was raised at the meeting was the need to get create opportunities for more Australians to get out on the reef. The best way to protect the reef, to learn about the reef, is to come and visit it and help protect and promote one of our great marine wonders. This is why I can't wait for the Albanese Labor government's Reef Educational Experience Fund to kick off. There is $6 million for the Kids on the Reef rebate program for schools right across Australia to subsidise excursions to our Great Barrier Reef, making it easier for students to experience our natural beauty first-hand. There is $1 million in support for local reef tourism operators, covering up to 50 per cent of the costs necessary for the upgrades, checks or clearances that are going to be required to accommodate these school groups. And there is another $3 million for Tourism Tropical North Queensland, who do a fantastic job, to deliver an international education campaign in key overseas markets, showing everybody you should visit the reef not just to see it but also to help protect it.

All of this builds into the Albanese Labor government's record investment of a $1.2 billion to protect, manage and restore the Great Barrier Reef, which, as we know, is responsible for adding over $9 billion a year into the economy and protecting 77,000 jobs. But beyond that everyone who lives along the reef knows that this natural titan is more than an economy. It is culture. It is everything that we are in the Far North. It's what draws us there. This is giving the opportunity to the youth of Australia to come along to visit and learn to love it—because you protect what you love. This is giving young kids the opportunity that I would never have had growing up in Victoria to go to a tropical paradise and experience first-hand six of the world's seven marine turtles. Turtles are great. Everyone will write home about them and about the clownfish, now affectionately known as Nemo, though I'm not sure if anyone's asked them if they're okay with that change.

We can't afford to risk the future of the reef. Protecting the reef is a responsibility. It is a legacy for all of us. And I'm proud that this Anthony Albanese Labor government is taking the protection of the reef seriously. The important thing to remember is that protecting the reef is an active thing. And the best way to protect the reef is to come and visit it.

Anyone who knows science knows that data is key. We get data by getting eyes on the reef, and we get eyes on the reef by people coming up to visit. Citizen science, the TRPI program and the removal of COTS all depend on people coming to visit. You help our economy, you help maintain those 77,000 jobs and you help protect one of the great natural wonders of the world. It is a truly special place.

I will be home very, very soon. I will walk along the beaches of the Coral Sea and I will look out knowing that the reef is there now, knowing that we are working to protect the reef for generations and knowing that hundreds of thousands of people will come to Cairns to experience it with me. Come to the reef. Come to Leichhardt. Have the time of your life.

House adjourned at 17:00

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Small ) took the chair at 09:39.