$400 million to save the Great Barrier Reef, Australia in the Federal Budget

[TruthTheOnlyDefense]

The government is set to spend almost half a billion dollars to save the Great Barrier Reef from pollution and climate change.

The investment will be detailed in next month's Federal Budget, as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull moves to shore up key seats in Queensland.

The $400 million plan will help to tackle runoff from farming, the destructive crown-of-thorns starfish, and fund new research on coral bleaching.

The government is set to spend almost half a billion dollars to rescue the Great Barrier Reef. (AAP)

Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg, Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop and Assistant Environment Minister Melissa Price will make the announcement in Cairns today.

Mr Frydenberg told Fairfax Media like all reefs in the world, the Great Barrier Reef is under pressure.

"A big challenge demands a big investment and this investment gives our reef the best chance," he said.

But environmental groups say the government's rescue package for the Great Barrier Reef must be met with a commitment to tackle climate change.

The Great Barrier Reef is facing steep decline stemming from climate change and pollution. (AAP)

The crown-and-thorns starfish is slowly killing the reef. (AAP)

While the prospect of increased funding has been welcomed, environmentalists say it means little without the government also altering its stance on issues such as Adani's planned new coal mine in Queensland.

"Protecting the reef for the future means stopping the damage caused through the burning of coal, oil and gas and fixing water quality with a serious investment package," Australian Marine Conservation Society reef campaign director Imogen Zethoven said.

"Unless the federal government shows leadership on climate change, we will need to see yet another reef rescue package in another three years."

Environmental groups say the spend on the Greta Barrier Reef is not enough going forward. (AAP)

WWF Australia said they would like to see the funding go towards threats such as farm pollution, to give the reef a chance to recover from bleaching.

A study published earlier this month in British scientific journal Nature claimed on average 30 per cent of the corals in the reef had died off in a nine-month period between March and November 2016.

Queensland's Minister for Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Leeanne Enoch, said a bipartisan approach was needed to save the reef.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is looking to shore up support in Queensland ahead of next year's election. (AAP)

"The federal government needs to work collaboratively with the Queensland government on reef initiatives to ensure our combined efforts are delivering maximum benefit for the reef," Ms Enoch said.

"The key challenge facing the reef is climate change."

Mr Turnbull said the reef was a critical national asset "providing $6.4 billion a year to the Queensland and Australian economies [and] 64,000 jobs."

© Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2018

https://www.9news.com.au/national/2...er-reef-400-million-spend-federal-budget-2018

We are one of the few countries that spend's so much money on the environment, awesome.

 

[venu309]

We are one of the few countries that spend's so much money on the environment, awesome.

Yeah right... we are also one of the few countries who let A-holes like Adani screw up our environment and then make us tax payers pay for it. Why not make him pay for it?

 

[TruthTheOnlyDefense]

We are one of the few countries that spend's so much money on the environment, awesome.

Yeah right... we are also one of the few countries who let A-holes like Adani screw up our environment and then make us tax payers pay for it. Why not make him pay for it?

Very true that in some regards we are a joke.