After more than a year since the Australian Senate Inquiry into Reef water quality science began, the committee has handed down its report.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society has been critical of the inquiry from the start, calling on politicians to listen to the science and evidence and get on with the job of protecting our precious Great Barrier Reef from water pollution.
“For all the theatre and posturing from certain senators, the final report confirms what scientists have been telling us for decades,” said David Cazzulino, Great Barrier Reef Campaigner.
“Poor water quality is a major threat to our Great Barrier Reef and we must work together to reduce water pollution – especially in the face of rising ocean temperatures.
“From the start, we said this was a politically motivated inquiry, wasting taxpayer dollars to murky the waters on settled Reef science.
“With the Queensland election just weeks away, we’re calling on all parties to listen to the science and retain crucial Reef water pollution laws to help give our Reef the best chance for the future.”
“The science is long settled on the threats to the Great Barrier Reef from water quality and climate change. Last year the federal and Queensland government released a Report Card on Reef water quality which gave the inshore Reef a ‘D’ score for overall condition.
“The federal government’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority downgraded the outlook for our most famous natural asset to ‘very poor’. Yet just a few days later, the government established this inquiry into the science behind these detailed and multi-year assessments.
“Cutting farm pollution and cleaning up our Reef’s water is essential to give our Reef and its extraordinary wildlife a fighting chance to survive climate change.”
