Great Barrier Reef: government fights World Heritage 'in danger' listing

Date
    February 2, 2015
    The Age

Environment Minister Greg Hunt has stepped up the government's campaign to stop the Great Barrier Reef being listed as "in danger", declaring it the "best managed marine ecosystem in the world". 

In a submission to the United Nations World Heritage Committee, Mr Hunt said the government had heard the concerns of the committee about threats facing the reef and "we have acted with renewed vigour".

The move comes as the Queensland election result casts fresh doubt on the future of mining projects in the Galilee Basin, with Labor leader Annastacia Palaszczuk pledging Labor will end taxpayer subsidies for Galilee coal and associated rail projects if it forms government.   

The expansion of coal terminals at Abbot Point has been central to the World Heritage Committee's concerns for the reef.

In his submission to fight against a formal "in danger" listing, Mr Hunt said the government had responded by moving to permanently ban the dumping of dredge spoil in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Mr Hunt said the government was limiting significant development of port areas adjacent to the marine park and up to $2 billion would be spent in the next decade to "provide ongoing significant investment for the management and understanding of the reef".

The Environment Minister even named the government's belated $200 million contribution to the global Green Climate Fund, set up to help developing countries deal with climate change, as an example of the government's actions to reduce the impact of domestic and international climate change.

The government's recent Outlook Report on the health of the reef listed climate change as the most serious threat to the reef, which would have "far-reaching consequences in the decades to come".

"In the light of the strength of this response and Australia's acknowledged track record in responsibly managing this international icon in the interests of future global generations, Australia firmly believes that the property does not warrant inclusion on the list of World Heritage properties in danger," Mr Hunt wrote in the submission.

But WWF Australia said the government's response to the committee was "inaccurate and fails to acknowledge serious declines in the reef's health".   

WWF-Australia chief executive Dermot O'Gorman said the report portrayed the reef as remaining in good condition despite evidence from the government's own scientists that it was suffering a serious decline in its health.   

"The State Party Report claims that Australian and Queensland government policies on the Great Barrier Reef are sufficient to avoid an 'in-danger' listing by the World Heritage Committee, but this claim is undermined by the clear picture provided by the science," he said.

Mr O'Gorman said that since 1981 the reef's health had deteriorated against 24 out of 41 measures used to assess its outstanding universal value.   

"Of the 24 diminished attributes, 10 are currently assessed as being 'poor', including corals, seagrass, marine turtles, dugong and seabirds – all of which are fundamental aspects of the original World Heritage listing," he said.