WHY BROADCASTER ALAN JONES MADE FLYING VISIT TO SEE THE REEF
BROADCASTER Alan Jones has made a flying tour of the Great Barrier Reef off Cairns at the behest of tourism operators worried about the natural wonder’s national reputation.
Mr Jones was whisked over the tranquil waters of Upolu Reef, Arlington Reef, Michaelmas Cay, and touched down briefly on Vlasoff Cay.
Back in Cairns, Mr Jones took aim at “Armageddon theorists”, who were “getting paid to write theses about (the Reef) being in danger mode” following the recent coral bleaching event.
Although his flight did not include any of the worst-affected parts of the Reef, Mr Jones said the coral he saw was in better shape than was being portrayed publicly.
“There are cycles in all of this – the Reef regenerates itself,” he said.
“The reality is that northern section was here thousands of years ago and will be for the next thousand.
“It’s like a bushfire, it regenerates itself, it’s part of the natural way of things.”
Mr Jones was a guest of the tourism industry initiative Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef, and former Barron River LNP MP Michael Trout helped organise the visit.
“We’ve got to have people aware of how good our Reef is and that we’re open for business,” Mr Trout said.
“We need to make particularly Australians know we have beautiful resources here and make sure people are coming to North Queensland to look at one of the greatest wonders of the world.”
National Coral Bleaching Taskforce convener Professor Terry Hughes directed the Cairns Post to the Great Barrier Marine Park Authority’s latest interim report, released last week.
“Presumably they’re not after the money, they’re just after the truth,” Prof Hughes said of the GBRMPA.
That report found 22 per cent of coral on the Reef died this year due to the worst mass bleaching event on record.
“Eighty-five per cent of this mortality occurred in the 600km stretch between the tip of Cape York and just north of Lizard Island,” he said. “Overall, the area south of Cairns escaped significant mortality.”
Mr Jones will discuss the visit this afternoon and on his weekly Sky News program Jones & Co tomorrow.