Australia PM promises another $ 700m to protect the Great Barrier Reef | Natural Issues
Scott Morrison funds will help secure nearly 64,000 jobs in Queensland but critics say they are ignoring threats to climate change.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announces Australian billionaire ($ 703m) defending the Great Barrier Reef and support tens of thousands of tourism projects, just months before a government election.
The coast, one of Australia’s most well-known natural habitats, is threatened by global warming and has become a beacon for criticism of the Conservative Coalition (AU) for supporting burning oil.
Morrison, a former co-defendant of the country’s biggest COVID-19 crisis caused by the Omicron brand, said on Friday that the money would help secure around 64,000 jobs in Queensland that rely on rocks.
To the northeast will be a major battlefield as Morrison goes to the polls in May, seeking his fourth party in a row. Its Conservative Party currently has 23 out of 30 seats in parliament.
“We support coastal health and the economic future of tourism, hospitality, and Queensland regions that are at the heart of the maritime economy,” he said in a statement.
The additional funding to be spent over the next nine years will increase the $ 2 billion ($ 1.4bn) Australian investment plan to protect the mineral resources from environmental threats over the next three decades.
Made of over 3,000 rocks stretching 2,300 km (1,430 miles), The Great Barrier Reef has lost almost half of its coral in 30 years and warm ocean waves that have triggered three major black events over the past five years.
More than half of the new funding will be used to improve water management to prevent soil erosion and to reduce the loss of nutrients and pesticides in farms. The rest will be used to monitor endangered species and to monitor systems.
Greenpeace environmental group said it was “surprising” to see the government prepare to distribute more money ignoring climate change.
Morrison has strongly opposed greenhouse gas emissions, saying they could hurt jobs, and has called for an Australian boost to 2030 emissions.
Opposition groups called for a boycott of the by-elections in Labor.
“The government has given up tourism businesses in north Queensland with a hard time, now with 5 minutes to the election campaign, they want to pretend they care,” Labor Party treasurer Jim Chalmers told reporters.
The stone came is about to be listed as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations last year. After intense pressure from Australia, the UN party withdrew its vote until early 2022.
