15 Aug 2016
The Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) has conditionally welcomed the Queensland Government’s commitment of a further $90 million over four years to implement 10 recommendations from the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) Water Science Taskforce report.
The Queensland Government also released a report on the costs of achieving the water quality targets for the GBR by 2025, which outlined the true price tag at $8.2 billion. This is contrary to an earlier reported figure of $16 billion which did not take into account progress already made.
QFF President Stuart Armitage stated that it was frustrating that while the government has (in principle) acknowledged the true cost associated with improving water quality in key catchment areas, it has not put its money where its mouth is on the issue.
“The Queensland agriculture sector acknowledge and accept the significant role it has to play in the reef recovery effort.”
“Progress is already underway through the QFF led Reef Alliance partnership and the industry specific Best Management Program’s (BMP) that minimise losses of soil, fertiliser and pesticides from farms and improve water quality entering the GBR.”
“Delivering the level of pollutant reduction outlined in the report is an ambitious, challenging and expensive task. Resourcing long-term reef management will require economic sustainability by all levels of government, reef-associated industries and coastal communities.”
“If we are to make any real tangible long-term improvement in the health of the GBR lagoon over the next 10-20 years, it is clear from various reports and stakeholder commentary that a quantum increase in investment is needed in both practice change and recovery actions to improve GBR health.”
“A financial commitment on the scale of the Murray Darling package will be required as a first step to meet the water quality targets agreed to by the Australian and Queensland Governments. The minimum government investment must be the $8.2 billion outlined in the costings report.”
“QFF and its industry members are very aware that with the current level government financial support the ambitious targets outlined in the GBR Water Science Taskforce report will not be realised, and the government is simply setting our industries up for failure.”
“QFF acknowledge there is still a long way to go and extra resources are required to strengthen the resilience of the reef and assist ongoing reef recovery. The science is critical but it is the on ground action which matters.”
“The government must engage in a constructive and balanced discussion with key stakeholders about delivery and implementation of the GBR Water Science Taskforce’s recommendations. QFF considers discussions with the Reef Alliance, consisting of industry, Natural Resource Management (NRM) groups and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), is a good starting point.”
“Everyone including farmers, graziers, developers, the resources sector, community members, traditional owners and tourism operators must be part of the solution in protecting and preserving the reef for generations to come,” said Mr Armitage.
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