New research shows $784 million is needed to improve Great Barrier Reef water quality, even before new the coal mines and ports, supported by the major parties, are built.
“ Even though the Reef is already struggling, the Newman Government is set to make its water quality even worse ,” Senator Larissa Waters, Australian Greens environment spokesperson , said.
Senator Waters said that The Newman Government is paying to dump the dredge spoil from the Abbot Point port expansion in the Caley Valley wetlands. These nationally significant wetlands are important natural filters that improve water quality of run-off into the Reef.
“T he Newman Government is throwing hundreds of millions of dollars, which could be spent improving the Reef’s water quality, at big mining companies to turn the Reef into a highway for coal ships. ”
“ The Newman Government has continually put its big mining buddies ahead of the Reef and the 69 000 sustainable jobs it provides. Labor also supports the Abbot Point coal port expansion and digging up the Galilee coal basin, turning the Reef into a shipping super highway for coal ships ,” Senator Waters said.
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