Press conference on the Reactive Monitoring Mission report with Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek

SUBJECTS: REACTIVE MONITORING MISSION REPORT, IN DANGER STATUS OF GREAT BARRIER REEF, CLIMATE CHANGE, EMISSIONS REDUCTION.

TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER:  Thanks very much. We’re here today to speak about the Reactive Monitoring Mission report into the Great Barrier Reef. This was a report conducted in March this year under the previous government, and as UNESCO said last night, dealing with the new government and dealing with the old government is something like night and day. No one loves the Great Barrier Reef more than Australians. No one is more committed to protect it than the Australian Government. In fact, the Australian Marine Conservation Society says that the new Government has done more in this six months than the previous government did in nine years to protect the Great Barrier Reef.
 
We are absolutely determined to protect, restore and maintain the precious natural environment that we're talking about and support the 64,000 jobs and the $6.4 billion worth of economic activity that the Reef underpins. We know that there are significant risks not just to the Great Barrier Reef but to all coral reefs globally from climate change. We absolutely accept the science that shows that coral reefs globally are threatened by climate change and by warming oceans. We understand that there are world heritage properties around Australia and globally that are acknowledged by UNESCO for their unique natural values that are also under threat from climate change. And it's one of the reasons our Government has been so determined to act on climate change since day one.
 
If you look at some of the specific criticisms that are contained in this report, there are two reasons you have an in-danger listing from UNESCO. The first is you need to make a bigger effort and you need to spend more money.
 
First of all, we are of course spending more money. We've committed $1.2 billion in coming years to looking after the reef including an extra $204 million in the most recent Budget alone. That allows us to do things like deal with invasive species like Crown-of-Thorns starfish. It allows us to tackle water quality issues. It allows us to work more closely with traditional owners on reef management. It allows us to deal with overfishing. Just last week, for example, I announced a new program of investment with commercial fishers to reduce the risks of by-catch of species like turtles and dugongs and sharks and so on. So we're spending the money. We're investing the money.
 
But if you look at some of the specific criticisms, the UNESCO - well, of course they picked out the fact that Australia had no clear carbon pollution reduction targets and that targets were not legislated under the previous government. Well, we've dealt with that. We now have a legislated target of 43% carbon pollution reduction by 2030 with a clear path to net zero by 2050. That is the most important thing that this Government can do to show willingness to address the risks to the reef. We have to be part of the global effort to reduce carbon pollution and to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees. So we're doing that.
 
One of the other specific criticisms, “the new large-scale Hell's Gate and Urannah Dams in the region also threaten to counteract progress”. The reason that this reactive monitoring mission was so concerned about these large dam projects, which were committed to by the previous government without environmental assessments, is because these large projects were being built in sensitive areas where construction run-off and the change to water use would have an impact on the Great Barrier Reef. We've cancelled both of those projects, both the Hell's Gate and Urannah Dam projects have been cancelled. The funding is no longer in the budget for those projects.
 
A third specific criticism from the Reactive Monitoring Mission and I’m quoting again, “traditional owners remain underrepresented and marginalised. Traditional owners feel that their stories are not sufficiently embedded”. Just last week I received the Reef 2050 traditional owner implementation plan that was developed by traditional owners of the Reef describing how they want to work with government in partnership to protect and manage the place that they have called home for tens of thousands of years. We're investing an extra $27.3 million in the implementation of this plan to establish a Sea-Country Alliance where traditional owners would take the lead in protecting and managing the Great Barrier Reef sea country that they are responsible for. This comes on top of other measures, close to $52 million for 55 specific projects around the Great Barrier Reef that have been co-designed with traditional owners and another $100 million that's been set aside between now and the end of the decade to work with sea country rangers to protect and manage the reef and they're working on issues like the Crown-of-Thorns starfish management and so on.
 
I understand why Australians are very concerned to hear overnight about this Reactive Monitoring Mission report and the recommendation to UNESCO that the reef be listed as in danger but I would say this. If the Great Barrier Reef is in danger, then every coral reef in the world is in danger. If this World Heritage site is in danger, then most world heritage sites around the world are in danger from climate change. We are, as a Government absolutely determined to do our bit to keep global warming beneath 1.5 degrees. We've legislated. We've invested. We're working hard to make sure that that's the case through all of our policies. And we want to work in partnership with UNESCO, with other countries around the world to acknowledge that yes, of course our natural environment is at risk from climate change and we need to work together globally to deal with those risks. I'm going to ask Senator Green to add a few words. Thank you.
 
SENATOR NITA GREEN, SPECIAL ENVOY FOR THE GREAT BARRIER REEF: Thank you, Tanya. Thank you very much. I know that this would be difficult news for people who work and live in the Great Barrier Reef, particularly tourism operators. I want to assure those people about the nature of this report. This report is not a recommendation to UNESCO. This relates to work done under the previous government in March 2022. As Tanya has said, since that time we've had a change of government and we've taken significant steps in policy but also in implementing management of the reef. In my short time as the Special Envoy for the Great Barrier Reef, I've had the opportunity to see this work firsthand, whether it's working with tourism operators like Experience Co up there in Cairns who are in the water every day restoring the Great Barrier Reef or working on Crown-of-Thorns starfish in the water or whether it’s out working in catchment areas working with organisations like Terrain NRM who are looking at restoring gullies to improve water quality. This work is happening and it's happening on the ground. That’s why I'm really proud of the work that our communities in Far North Queensland and north Queensland are doing to protect the Great Barrier Reef.
 
Can I also say this. This report shows that the previous government had an approach to those 64,000 jobs that was reckless and indifferent and should be called out. The previous government put the reef at risk in real terms and reputationally and we need to be clear about that. I say to those tourism operators and those who live near the reef who love the reef, you finally have a Commonwealth Government who has your back and is on your side, and we will work with you and with the Queensland Government to protect the Great Barrier Reef and to protect the jobs that rely on it. Thanks, Tanya.
 
JOURNALIST: Will you lobby UNESCO not to list the reef as endangered?
 
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yes. We'll clearly make the point to UNESCO that there is no need to single the Great Barrier Reef out in this way. The reason that UNESCO in the past has singled out a place as ‘at risk’ is because they wanted to see greater government investment or greater government action and since the change of government, both of those things have happened.
 
We believe that it's important to say that yes, climate change is a risk to ecosystems like the Great Barrier Reef, but that means it's a risk to every reef, globally. If you look at the World Heritage Listed sites in Australia, there are other sites in Australia that we worry about in terms of climate change as well. That's the case globally, that's the case globally. Fragile ecosystems around the world are at risk if we don't keep global warm below 1.5 degrees and that's why this Government is acting. That's why we have stepped up to be a good international citizen when it comes to climate change.
 
I can't tell what a difference it makes when we go to international fora to have a government that is to act on climate change. Just recently at the conference in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt it was Australia that was part of the global effort to push back on those countries that wanted to water down that 1.5-degree warming target. Australia has played, in the last six months, a constructive role globally. We have legislated domestically. We've legislated our carbon pollution reduction targets. We've got a target of 82% of electricity coming from renewable sources. We're acting on electric vehicle strategy. In every way, you see that the Australian Government has higher ambition when it comes to tackling climate change. I'd also say this.
 
We have made huge changes to our environmental policies more generally. We're rewriting our environmental laws. I'll be releasing our response to the Samuel review shortly. We've set a goal of zero new extinctions. We've committing to protecting 30% of our land and 30% of our seas by 2030. We've signed the Leaders Pledge for Nature at the United Nations, something the previous government refused to do. Look, there's a long list. I'm not going to go through the whole list. But the point is this report was written at a time before the Government was taking the threats to the Reef seriously. Everything has changed. As sources close to UNESCO in Le Monde today, it's like night and day.
 
JOURNALIST: Minister, the report says that land clearing is a particular concern and the impact on water quality. Your predecessor Sussan Ley blocked a large-scale agriculture proposal on Cape York. Will you commit to action from the Federal Government to reduce land clearing in North Queensland? Or will you happy to see the same rate continuing?
 
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: I think it is very important to look at land clearing issues when it comes to the Great Barrier Reef. I'm not going to make a generalised statement. I take each proposal before me as it comes. But I would say this, run-off and sediment is one of the most important issues that we need to tackle. We've set aside funding to tackle gully and riverbank and estuarine restoration projects. We do see this as a really important part of dealing with the threats to the reef and I'm working very closely with Megan Scanlon, the Queensland Environment Minister, on issues around what we can do as partner governments, the Queensland and Commonwealth governments together.
 
JOURNALIST: Minister when this issue emerged last time under the previous government, the previous government suggested that China had been involved in the UNESCO process, gumming up the works behind the scene. Is there any suggestion of that happening this time? Or is this strictly on environmental merits?
 
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Look, I'm not going to get into the previous government’s conspiracy theories about this. It's actually undeniable that climate change is a risk to every reef globally and we need to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees if we're going to protect not just the Great Barrier Reef, but all reefs. We're so very fortunate in Australia that we've got the most amazing scientists working on risks to the Reef. We've got scientists that are working on triggering coral spawning so we can replant coral more successfully. We've got scientists working on how to tackle invasive species like the Crown-of-Thorns starfish, reduce by-catch. Look, they're doing amazing work and it's being shared globally. We have relationships with other nations that have coral reefs that are also at risk. We're sharing our science with them because we see this as a global threat. What I say there is no need to single out the Great Barrier Reef in Australia because there is no Government taking the risks to coral reefs more seriously than the Australian Government and we're working hand in hand with the Queensland Government to respect, restore and manage the Great Barrier Reef so that future generations will have the same opportunity to see this magnificent site as we have had.
 
JOURNALIST: Minister, on coal and gas projects – early on in your tenure you rejected a coal project in Queensland, will that have to become the norm now? Will the government be able to say it can’t rule out new coal?  
 
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yes, I think the project you’re referring to is the Clive Palmer coal mine, which I said I was inclined to reject. The status of that at the moment is that the company has come back with a whole range of additional information I am considering. So while I have indicated that I’m inclined to prevent that going ahead, I’m still going through the process of considering that additional information. But that’s a coal mine, an open cut mine, proposed for 9.7 kilometres away from the Great Barrier Reef with water sources going from beside the mine into precious and environmentally delicate sea grass meadows that dugongs and turtle and fish use to breed and feed So, there are projects like that that we’ll have to have close scrutiny, there’s no question of that.
 
JOURNALIST: If the reef is listed by the UN, how long, what would be a suitable timeframe for the government to take it back off it? And if it is listed, would that be considered a failure on the part of the government to lobby UNESCO?
 
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, if the reef is listed because climate change is a danger to coral reefs, then until we fix climate change coral reefs will be in danger. It is very important that the Australian Government makes very clear that the Great Barrier Reef should not be singled out as in danger, compared with any other coral reef globally. And we’re going to keep saying that interactions – we’ve had some very positive interactions since coming into government with UNESCO. I’ve met with senior figures at UNESCO personally and have said we understand their concern. We are concerned about the impact of climate change on our natural environment. That’s why, one of the very first things we did on coming into government is legislate carbon pollution reduction targets. And, not just that, we’re not just talking about carbon pollution reduction targets, not just that. In my own portfolio, we’ve got legislation in Parliament to reduce ozone depleting gases, we’ve signed the global methane pledge, which is a particularly dangerous gas when it comes to global warming. So we’re prepared to act on all fronts – this government, is as UNESCO themselves say, night and day compared with the previous government. And that’s why we say that this listing is not necessary. We are more committed than anyone to invest in and take action on protecting our reef.  
 
JOURNALIST: [What merits last time] the volume of lobbying they received from green groups to have it listed in danger, do you think this will take [indistinct] and what steps have you taken [indistinct].
 
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, I’m not surprised that under the previous government that environmental groups thought that the only chance they had of protecting the reef was to get international attention to the fact that the Morrison Government refused to take action on climate change. The situation has changed and as some of our own environment groups have been saying this morning, the action that this new government has taken in six months is more than the previous government took in nine years to protect the Great Barrier Reef. You know, there’s a very new approach under the Albanese Government compared with the Morrison Government – that is undeniable. And so, my hope is that we can do it cooperatively with our scientific community, conservationists, environmental groups, and most particularly, as Senator Green says, with those reef communities that are absolutely passionately committed to protecting the places they love. So, I’m going to have to go to caucus in a minute, so that is the last one.
 
JOURNALIST: [inaudible].
 
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: We’ve already legislated a 43 per cent emissions reduction target by 2030, with a credible path to get to net zero by 2050. As my colleague the Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen has made clear, that’s a floor not a ceiling. If Australia can do better, that’s wonderful but we have legislated an ambitious carbon pollution reduction target right now. We’ve signed the methane pledge, we’re acting on ozone depleting gases. We’re heading to 82% renewables in our electricity grid, we’re making it easier to buy and use electric vehicles. We’re looking at other areas in transport, we’re working hand in hand with the Australian business community, with Australians more generally, to do our share as part of the global community to deal with risks of climate change.
 
Thanks very much.