As Australia goes to the polls on 2 July, the Great Barrier Reef will be reeling from its worst environmental crisis in recorded history and experts have said this election cycle is the last chance to save it. Both climate change and water quality need to be tackled quickly and aggressively.

We asked the three parties a series of questions about their positions on the Great Barrier Reef.

When it comes to water quality, the Coalition announced the Reef 2050 long-term sustainability plan last year, which introduced targets for water pollution, bans on dumping dredge spoil in the marine park and the restoration of laws to protect vegetation along rivers.

But questions have been asked about whether it has committed enough funds to achieve the targets. In the budget it moved $171m towards improving water quality, and during the election campaign it announced $6m for reducing the impact of crown of thorns starfish.



The Labor party has committed a further $500m over five years and the Greens have gone further, proposing $2.18bn be spent over the same period.



When it comes to climate change, the Coalition has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to between 26% and 28% below 2005 levels by 2030, which is not thought to be consistent with keeping warming to less than 2C globally.

The Labor party has committed to reducing emissions by 45% by 2030 and 100% by 2050. And the Greens are proposing a more aggressive move towards zero net emissions and funding for transitioning communities that rely on the fossil fuel industry.

Edited responses from the offices of the Coalition’s Greg Hunt (the environment minister), Labor’s Mark Butler and the Greens’ Larissa Waters are below.



How bad is the condition of the Great Barrier Reef right now?

Coalition: The Great Barrier Reef is a highly dynamic and variable ecosystem. It is resilient, but like all reefs around the world, it is also facing challenges.

The latest advice from the Great Barrier Reef marine park authority is that the reef remains under pressure from climate change, declining water quality from catchment runoff, coastal development and some fishing impacts.

The coral bleaching event this year is significant. Although the advice from GBRMPA is that it is in its final stages.



Labor: The reef is under pressure from climate change, poor water quality (nutrients, sediments and pesticides), coastal development, extreme weather events, including freshwater inundation, ocean acidification and outbreaks of crown of thorns starfish.

Australia needs real leadership to address these issues. That is why Labor will implement our Great Barrier Reef plan – a long-term, coordinated and resourced strategy.

Greens: The reef has been hit by the worst-ever mass coral bleaching, with 93% of reefs affected. Scientists estimate that 50% of bleached coral may die. Global warming is the single biggest threat to the reef, and if we don’t keep warming below 1.5 degrees, the best science tells us we will lose our precious coral reefs completely.

On top of global warming, water quality pollution from land-based runoff is making the damage even worse. The independent Australian Institute of Marine Science found that “current efforts are not sufficient to achieve the water quality targets set in the Reef 2050 plan” and a government-sponsored water science taskforce report has warned that “significantly more investment” and change on “a vast scale” are needed if water quality pollution reduction targets which Australian promised to Unesco “have any chance of being achieved”.

On its current trajectory, do you expect the Great Barrier Reef to survive to the middle of the century?

Coalition: Yes we do and that’s because we have in place a reef plan out to 2050, to ensure the continuing health of the reef.

Last year our work to protect the reef was praised by the world heritage committee as a model for the rest of the world to follow.

We ended the 100-year practice of capital dredge disposal in the Great Barrier Reef marine park and ended five massive dredge disposal projects in the reef’s waters.

We established a $210m reef trust to fund water quality and environment projects to protect the reef, as part of a broader $2bn investment.

Labor: If we can take real action on climate change and improve water quality, then absolutely yes. Strong leadership is required to save this amazing icon as well as to protect the jobs and investments required into the future.

Greens: Whether the Great Barrier Reef survives is up to us. We are at a tipping point to save our reef. We can and must save our reef by embracing the global transition to job-rich clean energy, and by cutting water pollution instead of continuing on the current trajectory of using taxpayer-funded subsidies to prop up the dying coal industry.

How will you and your party protect the future of the reef?

Coalition: We will continue to implement the Reef 2050 plan which is being supported by the Queensland Labor government as joint managers of the reef. It’s the most comprehensive plan ever developed to protect the Great Barrier Reef for future generations.

We’re focused on improving water quality in the short term and tackling climate change to ensure the long-term protection of the Great Barrier Reef.

Labor: Last week Labor announced our Great Barrier Reef plan. It will be supported by a fund of $500m over five years, including $377m of new investment.

This is a downpayment on Labor’s commitment to protect this great national treasure and the jobs it supports.

Labor will work with the Queensland government and stakeholders to implement the recommendations of the Great Barrier Reef water science taskforce report.

Our plan to protect this delicate ecosystem has three pillars covering research, management, investment and preservation.

• Science and research: this includes directing CSIRO marine and atmospheric research to conduct reef-specific science, including climate research, supported by a $50m targeted funding boost.

• Direct environmental investment: integrated direct investment to improve, water quality, land management, agricultural and environmental impacts.

• Reef management: fix the fragmented and uncoordinated approach that has for too long characterised reef management and conservation.



The best way to help the reef and to boost tourism and economic growth is to take serious action on climate change, to face the challenge and show leadership.

We will deliver 50% renewable energy by 2030 – taking advantage of the $2.5tn of investment in renewable energy in the Asia-Pacific by 2030.



Labor is also committed to a 45% emissions reduction by 2030 and zero net emissions by 2050.



Labor’s investment in the reef goes beyond conservation – it is an investment in the tourism and agricultural industries of our coastal communities.



Labor’s plan will protect jobs, local industries and tourism, and ensure that our natural wonder of the world is strengthened for future generations to enjoy.

Greens: We have already announced that we would reverse previous funding cuts and top up funding for the Great Barrier Reef marine park authority and the Australian Institute for Marine Science, to a total of $90.8m in additional funding over four years for GRBMPA and Aims.

On a recent visit to the reef to observe the bleaching, Senator Waters and leader Dr Richard Di Natale announced our plan to protect the reef from coal global warming:

The Greens’ plan to protect the reef from coal and global warming:

No new gas or coalmines:the dirty energy industry is in freefall and we need to prepare now for the inevitable transition.



A thermal coal export levy: a levy of $3 a tonne will raise $700m a year and reduce incentives for coal companies to ship as much as they can from the port, at whatever price they can get. The levy would not apply to destination countries with an effective price on pollution. The levy would help fund the transition to clean energy, natural disaster preparedness and recovery, and climate finance for developing nations.



Reinvest into the reef: we have committed $90.8m in additional funding over four years for the the Great Barrier Reef marine park authority and the Australian Institute for Marine Science.



Justice for workers and communities: the Greens would create a $1bn clean energy transition fund to help workers and communities adjust to the transition as our coal usage and exports gradually decline.



Pricing pollution from mining: the Greens want to reimplement a carbon price.



Stop giving miners tax-free fuel: coalminers get tax-free fuel while the rest of us pay 39 cents in every litre. Making them pay excise would help save the reef and save the government $6bn a year in subsidies.



Clean energy: the Greens’ RenewAustralia plan for at least 90% renewable energy by 2030 will make this happen.



The Greens will increase government funding for water quality pollution control to a total of $2bn over five years including:

$500m in new federal grant funding over five years

to assist farmers to transition to more sustainable practices in relation to water quality pollution, to fund ‘landscape repair’ projects like revegetation, wetlands restoration and combating gully erosion.

to assist farmers to transition to more sustainable practices in relation to water quality pollution, to fund ‘landscape repair’ projects like revegetation, wetlands restoration and combating gully erosion. $1.2bn Reef Repair Loan Facility over 5 years to help farmers transition to low-pollution farming methods.

Current projected funding for water quality initiatives totals $370m over the next five years.

We would implement a legal cap on water quality pollution on a catchment basis, which gradually decreases over the next 10 years.

Develop world-class water quality monitoring and reporting – with $15m over the next four years would be for GBRMPA specifically to invest in robust, property-level water quality monitoring, modelling.

The Greens would urgently restore Queensland’s tree clearing protections rolled back by the Newman LNP government.

What is the best way to support the tourism industry associated with the Great Barrier Reef?

Coalition: The best way to support the tourism industry and the jobs it provides along the reef is to boost reef health, maintain the marine park management including zoning and sustain the strong efforts being made now to improve water quality and reduce the numbers of crown-of thorns starfish.

Everyone wins if we have a strong, healthy and resilient reef. That’s what our work to protect the reef is all about.

Importantly, the key areas where tourists visit the reef have been the least impacted by the current coral bleaching.

Labor: Labor’s plan is the largest-ever financial commitment to the long-term health of Australia’s most important environmental icon, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. We will take a multifaceted approach and take real action on climate change, the biggest threat to the reef.

Greens: We Greens are the only major party opposed to new coal and gas mines, including the Adani coalmine, while the old parties want to keep worsening the biggest threat the reef faces with new coal and gas mines, and keep handing out fossil fuel subsidies to big polluters.

The Greens have consistently called for increased investment in cutting water quality pollution, at the 2013 federal election and the 2015 Queensland state election. The Greens are committed to delivering adequate funding and real regulations which will give the reef a fighting chance by making sure its waters are clean. The independent water science taskforce has concluded that the funding being provided by both the state Labor government and the federal Coalition governments is inadequate to fix the problem. The taskforce warned that we need “significantly more investment” to meet the government’s own targets.