Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) | Hansard source

This inquiry would be another blow in the government's war against science. The government's been at war with climate science for many years and now it's at war with water science. The government's own scientific adviser, both the head of the reef body and the former Chief Scientist, Ian Chubb, recently wrote to the minister and said:

… we have more than enough to know that without action to address climate change and to improve water quality the risk to the GBR is substantial. … The evidence is strong, the science robust, the conclusions drawn from the science are sound.

This government is at war with science, and the reef is going to suffer for it, as will the 64,000 people whose jobs rely on the reef. This inquiry is like considering whether smoking causes lung cancer or whether the earth is round. This inquiry would be a complete waste of the parliament's time, because the science is crystal clear and scientifically illiterate politicians should not adjudicate on peer-reviewed science.