Thursday 11 December 2014

REEF NEEDS SCIENCE NOT POLITICAL THREATS

Media Release



Instead of threatening world leaders, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop should be pressuring Campbell Newman to do more to protect the Great Barrier Reef and the many communities whose economies depend on it.
Media reports today reveal Ms Bishop will use the Climate Change Summit in Lima to scare world leaders about the possibility of the Reef being listed ‘in danger’.
Queensland Shadow Environment Minister, Jackie Trad, said Ms Bishop was using political posturing rather than addressing the real threats to the Reef.
“Campbell Newman is the worst threat to the Reef – the past two-and-a-half years have shown that,” Ms Trad said.
“From his refusal to rule out dumping in the World Heritage Area and winding back world-class water management laws to the axing of tree clearing and coastal protection laws."
“If Bishop should be threatening anyone, it should be Campbell Newman, over his appalling track record on the Reef.”
Ms Trad said Julie Bishop’s strategy also showed she had no faith in the Newman and Abbott governments’ plan to protect the Great Barrier Reef.
“If Julie Bishop actually thought the LNP’s ‘plan’ for the Reef would work, she wouldn’t be lowering herself to thinly-veiled political threats,” Ms Trad said.
“The reality is, the LNP know that their plan is not built on solid scientific advice and good public policy, so they have to resort to political stunts on the world stage."
“Ultimately, it is the Reef that continues to suffer, while the LNP clamour at the eleventh hour to stop UNESCO listing it ‘in danger’.”

Newman Government decisions that have impacted the Reef:

– Approved discharge of contaminated mine water into the Fitzroy River and out to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR)
– Took away the right of Queenslanders to object to mining projects that impact on the Reef
– Weakened coastal protection laws
– Broke his p­romise and axed tree clearing laws
– Cancelled every Queensland renewable energy initiative and closed the Office of Climate Change
– Changed the Abbott Point decision in 2012 to ensure all dredge waste was dumped into the GBR Marine Park
– Changed laws to allow over-allocation of water in Queensland – that’s Murray Darling Basin problems spread acros­s the reef catchments
– Broke his promise and lifted Labor’s ban on uranium mining and refuses to guarantee uranium won’t be shipped across the Reef
– Refuses to ban the dumping of all future capital dredge spoil in the GBR World Heritage Area
– Legislated that all Federal environmental approval powers are to be given to the Coordinator General.

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