THE Great Barrier Reef could be a no-go zone for the Greens, with the party barred from visiting the natural wonder by Cairns’ marine tourism industry.

Greens Leader Richard Di Natale and Senator Larissa Waters are expected to be in Cairns today to inspect coral bleaching with scientists and local tourism operators.

Several major operators, however, have refused the party’s request to ferry the senators and their entourage offshore to observe bleached coral, fearing the “publicity stunt” could damage their industry.

The operators have been battling a global perception that the Reef is dying from the current widespread bleaching event.

Bleaching, however, does not always result in coral mortality, with some reefs already showing signs of recovery.

Cairns Professional Game Fishing Association president Daniel McCarthy said he and other operators were taking a stand against the Greens’ exaggerated claims about the extent of the natural phenomenon.

“They told me they wanted to see badly bleached areas, which obviously suggests they want a doom and gloom story,’’ he said.

“It’s quite obvious to me that they want a very negative story to ramp up their argument about coal mining, and are quite willing to sacrifice the reputation and thousands of jobs that rely on the health of the Great Barrier Reef to push another agenda.”

Senator Waters said her party was “standing up for the 69,000 workers who relied on the Great Barrier Reef being healthy.”

“Tourism operators have been left to deal with the consequences of the old parties failing the Reef on global warming,’’ she said.

“There are many spectacular parts of the Reef left intact and we are doing all we can to protect them from the fate of other reefs that have been left severely bleached due to global warming.”