The 40th meeting of the Great Barrier Reef ministerial forum held in Brisbane today is another display of the state and federal government’s commitment to rise above politics and protect the reef, said Queensland Resources Council (QRC) Chief Executive Michael Roche.
Australia is on track to avoid an in-danger listing in light of the recent decision by the World Heritage Committee’s draft recommendation that it should not be placed on the in-danger list.
Australia will provide a report by the end of 2016 on the progress and implementation of the Reef 2050 plan, with a full report due in 2020.
The measures in the Reef 2050 plan on ports and dredging take existing strong regulation to perhaps the toughest standards in the world. Those measures will inevitably come at an economic cost to Queensland over time, concluded Roche.