Today in Cairns the Greens have announced a more than $2 billion plan to save the Great Barrier Reef and the workers who rely upon it for their livelihood, as the Reef remains at serious risk from the effects of climate change and poor water quality.

Last year the Reef narrowly avoided a World Heritage Committee “In Danger” listing after cynical lobbying by a Morrison Government desperate to avoid another PR disaster, but Australia was given just one year to pull up its socks on Reef protection.

A controversial project to expand salmon farming into Commonwealth waters has come under fire from the Greens for its lack of transparency and consultation.

It comes following revelations that Tasmanian and Federal Governments have chosen their “offshore” salmon farm trial site just 3-6 nautical miles directly off the coast of Burnie and opened a public consultation process without informing anyone.

The Morrison Government has responded six years late to a critical Senate Inquiry report on the regulation of the fin-fish aquaculture industry in Tasmania, staging the response slyly alongside

A report requested by Unesco on the state of the Great Barrier Reef remains in question after the Morrison Government’s failure to publish its findings due to Unesco at 10am AEDT today. 
 
The Morrison Government was urged to produce the report ahead of the Unesco World Heritage Committee’s vote in June on whether to declare the Reef on its list of World Heritage sites ‘in danger’.  
 
Quotes attributable to Greens Healthy Oceans spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson: 
 

The Greens have condemned the alleged vandalism that occurred last night to the Woolnorth Road Virtual Fence Project, designed to mitigate roadkill of a healthy Tasmanian devil population in north west Tasmania. 

Comments attributable to Greens Senator for Tasmania, Peter Whish-Wilson:

“This senseless and infuriating act of vandalism is to be condemned, but we must not allow it to deter or slow our efforts to protect Tasmanian devils from becoming roadkill, especially not in one of the last remaining bastions for healthy devils in Tasmania. 

The Greens have slammed the Morrison Government for its relentless destruction of the Great Barrier Reef, after it tried to remove reference to a 1.5C global warming limit in a new climate change policy for World Heritage sites.

The Morrison Government also lobbied for conversations about World Heritage sites damaged by climate change – including the Great Barrier Reef – to be put on hold when the climate change policy is debated at a UNESCO meeting in Paris scheduled in two weeks’ time.

The Greens say today’s report that more than 98% of the Great Barrier Reef’s coral reefs have suffered bleaching is a damning indictment of the Morrison Government’s climate inaction and exposes the sickening cynicism of its campaign to keep the Reef off UNESCO’s “in danger” list earlier this year.

Greens deputy leader and Queensland Senator Larissa Waters said:

“Climate change and pollution have already killed off half of the Great Barrier Reef’s coral cover, endangering this precious natural asset and the 60,000 jobs that rely on it.

The LNP has gagged debate on a bill to stop the destructive fossil fuel project PEP-11, despite Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Liberal MPs Lucy Wicks, Jason Falinski, Trent Zimmerman and Dave Sharma having all voiced opposition to the project.

Greens spokesperson for Healthy Oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, said:

“Coastal communities right around the nation are opposing offshore fossil fuel projects in this critical time of climate emergency.

The Greens have slammed the Morrison Government for upping its assault on lutruwita/Tasmania’s oceans and waterways. 
 
Quotes attributable to Greens Senator for lutruwita/Tasmania, and Greens spokesperson for Healthy Oceans, Peter Whish-Wilson:
 
“Make no mistake today’s announcement is the unofficial start of Scott Morrison’s election campaign.
 
“This is clearly sabre-rattling, preparing Australia for a khaki election and designed to be a distraction from the fact this Government is plagued with scandal and corruption.
 

The Greens have slammed the Morrison Government for politicising science in an attempt to deny the dangerous decline of the Great Barrier Reef. 
 
Documents obtained by the ABC under Freedom of Information laws reveal the Morrison Government coerced an independent science agency to rush the release of a major scientific report.