Reef research windfall

Aquarium scores $1m grant for centre

WORLD-LEADING reef research will be conveyed through a new interactive education centre at the Cairns Aquarium worth almost $2 million.

The Reef and Rainforest Research Centre has won a $995,000 grant from the Federal Government and will spend $1 million of its own money to build the facility.

Aquarium CEO Daniel Leipnik said the facility would have two research centres investigating invasive species, coral propagation and breeding endangered reef species.

“We really want people to come away from the experience knowing a lot more about the environment and habitats of the region and really care about that,” he said.

Regional Development Minister Fiona Nash confirmed the plan during a visit to Cairns yesterday, congratulating the organisation for beating hundreds of other applicants for the Building Better Regions Fund.

RRRC managing director Sheriden Morris said the organisation’s partners, including James Cook University and CSIRO, would use the infrastructure for both research and education.

“It’s an important way to get good messages across, it’s an important way to extend the science that we do,” she said. “Australia spends a great deal of money on research but not a lot of people know what the outcomes of that research are.”

The aquarium is on track for a September opening despite earlier delays with the four-day process of filling the 1.8 million litre Great Barrier Reef Oceanarium started on Wednesday.

Live animals, including hammerhead sharks, reef sharks and large stingrays, are due to be introduced over the coming weeks.

Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch said the successful bid augured well for another project in his sights.

“This will also be a very important step in another bid I have — making sure we get a presence of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (Association) up here,” he said.