MORE REEF CASH BUT SAME TARGETS
A GOVERNMENT led by Labor would follow in the Coalition’s footsteps and go on an international charm offensive to prevent the Great Barrier Reef from being listed as “in danger”, as Anthony Albanese declined to ramp up climate change targets in order to save the icon.
Mr Albanese visited Fitzroy Island, off Cairns, on Friday to spruik Labor’s credentials on the reef to voters in the tourism-dependent seat of Leichhardt — though a quirk of electorate carve-ups puts the island in Bob Katter’s Kennedy.
Labor’s pledge to deliver “an additional $194.5m” of funding for the reef comes against the backdrop of a new Great Barrier Reef Marine
Park Authority report finding that 91 per cent of the natural wonder had suffered bleaching.
But the opposition’s funding commitment – which is on top of the government’s $1bn top-up over the decade — had just $31m of new cash, with Labor rehashing a pledge it had made in January.
Mr Albanese, asked how he could spruik reef commitments while also
supporting the coal and gas industries in Queensland, said the government needed to “do both”.
“You need to address climate change not just by domestic action, but both by being a part of international action as well,” he said.
Scientists have called for Australia to cut emissions by at least 50 per cent by 2030 to keep warming under 2C, or by 75 per cent in the
same time frame to do its fair share in meeting the Paris Agreement.
But Mr Albanese said Labor would be staying steadfast on its policy to lower emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, with a goal of net zero by 2050. The embattled natural wonder was almost slapped with a reputation damaging “in danger” listing by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee last year.