Anthony Albanese on Thursday announced a $100 million partnership with the Queensland government for a battery manufacturing precinct in Gladstone.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
He said visiting the Great Barrier Reef was a highlight for many Australians,but they were worried their children would miss out on seeing it before climate change ruined it.
“That’s why it’s so important we act on climate change and species protection – to protect the reef and the tens of thousands of jobs that rely on it,” Albanese said.
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The funding would be in addition to money already promised by the Coalition,with an undisclosed amount to be drawn from programs previously announced by Labor. In November,Labor promised $200 million to improve urban rivers and$100 million for the reef.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority released a report on Tuesday that revealed91 per cent of the reefs that make up the giant ecosystem had suffered bleaching,whichoccurs during marine heatwaves.
Labor’s reef funding will go into existing initiatives such as helping farmers reduce fertiliser and sediment run-off into the ocean,controlling the crown-of-thorns starfish and breeding heat-tolerant corals – aninitiative that has been questioned by experts. It has also committed to spending $100 million of the total reef funds on work with Indigenous rangers.
The opposition’s threatened species pledge centres on a new conservation strategy,to be delivered in co-operation with state and territory governments,including koala habitat protection and programs to wipe out feral species such as yellow crazy ants that are invading Cairns and Townsville.