E&OE….
Topics: Great Barrier Reef
STEVE AUSTIN:
Well Greg Hunt is the Federal Minister for the Environment. I spoke to him just before coming to air and asked him how this decision will unfold at UNESCO in Paris overnight.
GREG HUNT:
So overnight, UNESCO, through what’s called the World Heritage Centre will release a draft recommendation for the Bonn conference which will occur in a month. The history is that these draft recommendations, because they’ve been put together by UNESCO, the World Heritage Committee and with the advice of what’s called the International Union for Conservation and Nature, are likely to be almost definitive. So in other words, what comes out tonight will provide, almost certainly, the outcome that will occur at Bonn in a month’s time.
STEVE AUSTIN:
So really this is the more important meeting than the Bonn meeting four weeks later. How do you think – or what do you think will be the result?
GREG HUNT:
Look I am increasingly confident that not only will UNESCO decide that the Reef should not be listed as in danger, but that it will provide a very big tick for Australia. And the reason why is simple. The announcement in November in front of 5000 people at the World Parks Congress that we would ban dredge disposal in the Marine Park forever has had enormous impact.
The Reef 2050 Plan done jointly between the Commonwealth and successive Queensland Governments has had a very major impact and the almost quarter of a billion dollars of additional funding for water quality on top of the nearly $2 billion previously for reef management has made a huge impact. They can see that we’re doing real work to improve the reef and that’s being picked up by countries and officials around the world.
STEVE AUSTIN:
I’m speaking with the Federal Minister for Environment, Greg Hunt. Steve Austin’s my name. This is 612 ABC Brisbane. Are you making a final pitch with Queensland’s Environment Minister Steven Miles to UNESCO before they announce their decision?
GREG HUNT:
No, not today. We’ve had constant contact and frankly, two months ago I think that UNESCO came to a pretty clear view. I met the head of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, in Paris in early April. We discussed the progress and she indicated that she thought Australia was a model of how to respond to issues such as this. And I will say that we have taken the opportunity of what was potentially a very, very, very significant negative to make changes that might not otherwise have been possible.
In your career, you have an opportunity like this maybe once and that is to do things for the reef – the dredge ban, the Reef 2050 Plan, the additional investment in water quality. You might get to do that once and so to take a chance like this has been a real opportunity and in the real physical world that matters most, it’s about turning around and improving the health of the reef, the health of the water quality and therefore the long-term future over the next fifty and one hundred years and I think the real world is seeing significant changes and then that’s been reflected in the diplomatic world.
STEVE AUSTIN:
So you feel that this will be one of your personal achievements as a Federal Government Minister?
GREG HUNT:
Look for me, for myself, when I look back in 30 years time I am very hopeful that the work on the reef along with the creation of the Emissions Reduction Fund might be the two things that would be most important. Now history will tell whether that’s right but this is something I am passionate about. I was fortunate growing up to snorkel on the reef a number of times and then as an adult to dive the reef. It is the world’s Great Barrier Reef.
There is nothing like it and yes there are challenges and we have to be absolutely clear about that, but at the same time it is the most majestic, the most extraordinary reef in the world and we can improve it over the next three decades rather than see it decline, as has generally been the case for much of the last thirty years.
STEVE AUSTIN:
So you acknowledge that for the last 30 years it’s been in decline but you think your big achievement would have been to put a stop to that?
GREG HUNT:
Look, I would hope that not just myself but many, many people at Queensland level, at Commonwealth level, the farmers who are out there in the fields making changes to sediment management, to nitrogen management – they are the front line and they deserve credit.
STEVE AUSTIN:
Alright, let me interrupt you at that point then – as you know there’s been a big push by a range of environmental organisations to highlight threats to the reef over many years. Do you accept that amongst the public there is real concern about a range of threats to the health of the Barrier Reef, including the issue of climate change and the ongoing apparent desire to open more coal mines in Queensland?
GREG HUNT:
So there are numerous people who are completely genuine on this issue and for myself to see areas that have been damaged near to the shore, but then to see majestic areas elsewhere gives you the balance.
Some groups have sought to run a political agenda and wanted the reef to be listed as endangered. That would have done enormous damage to, in my view, not just the conservation practices, but also to the small communities, to tourism operators, to Indigenous communities up and down the coast…
STEVE AUSTIN:
I accept the economic argument – I accept the economic argument but the difficulty is it’s not just an economic decision, is it?
GREG HUNT:
…in some cases are a misuse of this issue and we’ve had to counter a lot of completely disingenuous misinformation that’s been passed to some countries. That’s why we’ve been engaged in the diplomatic as well as the practical work.
STEVE AUSTIN:
Sorry, let me just jump back in – I accept the economic argument, but I’m asking you about the other side of that argument, if you like, that there are many who, with some foundation, highlight that if it wasn’t for the continual pushing by a range of environmental organisations, governments of a range of political persuasions would not have moved as quickly, sorry, would not have moved at all, depending on where you stand, would not have moved in the way they have to do more to protect the reef. Do you accept that?
GREG HUNT:
Look, I think that there have been some tremendous examples of local environmental groups that have played a very important role. But you go back, of course, to…
STEVE AUSTIN:
Do you accept that amongst the public there is a real concern? Sorry Greg, let me interrupt – do you accept that amongst the public there is a real concern about a range of threats to the health of the reef, including from climate change and from the continual opening of coal mines?
GREG HUNT:
Well firstly in terms of climate change, it is real, it is significant, it is a long-term challenge for every reef in the world. The second thing, in terms of whatever fossil fuel you use, wherever it is in the world, that is part of the climate change equation. And so it’s not about one particular mine 500 kilometres inland.
A mine in Chile, the use of coal in China, the use of coal in Indonesia has exactly the same impact, exactly the same impact on global emissions. And so the real point here is, some people wanted to ensure that there was no mining in Queensland. That’s their right to do that. Do I think that that is a wise situation? No. Do I think that what we have to do is reduce global emissions? Absolutely.
STEVE AUSTIN:
Alright, before I let you go, when will the decision be announced by UNESCO overnight, or on the weekend?
GREG HUNT:
So we’re expecting it late this evening, so we’ll know by tomorrow morning and I am coming to Queensland tonight and Steve Miles and I are due to stand together tomorrow. It’s been a pleasure working with successive Queensland Governments. Andrew Powell did a brilliant job; I’ve enjoyed working with Steven Miles. This is an example of the Federation working as it should. People standing up to protect the reef and numerous people have been involved, and then standing up to protect the reputation of the reef.
STEVE AUSTIN:
Greg Hunt, thanks for your time.
GREG HUNT:
Thanks Steve.
(ENDS)