In its draft recommendations to the World Heritage Committee, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation recognised the progress the Queensland government had made in ensuring the Great Barrier Reef remained on the World Heritage List.
The recommendations will be considered by the World Heritage Committee in Qatar in June.
“The comprehensive approach of detailing and accumulating multiple environmental impacts of port expansions gave the federal environment minister the scientific evidence he needed to approve the proposal with strict conditions,” QRC CEO Michael Roche said.
“The Abbot Point assessment included a study on options for the removal of sediment from the site of the proposed terminal expansion.
“It concluded that underwater relocation in a like environment some 40 kilometres distant from the reef would minimise environmental impacts.”
Roche said almost 80% of Queensland’s resources and agricultural exports moved through established ports adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and were worth $40 billion in 2011-12.
“Ecologically sustainable development is essential to the wellbeing of the reef and the Australian economy and what we are seeing in this draft decision is the encouragement of the international community to keep working towards that goal,” he said.
However, Roche said he was surprised at the draft decision comments about the work of the federal and Queensland governments towards a bilateral agreement on environmental approvals.
“Such a bilateral agreement is about removing unnecessary duplication of processes but will not in any way result in a lowering of the standard of environmental safeguards,” he said.
Queensland Environment Minister Andrew Powell said the draft UNESCO statement was a clear acknowledgement of the government’s continuing efforts to protect the reef.
“We have being working with the Australian government to implement every one of the World Heritage Committee’s requests and I am pleased that our efforts have now been acknowledged internationally,” he said.
“Nearly 30 years of monitoring by the Australian Institute of Marine Science has shown the key impacts on the reef continue to be severe weather events such as cyclones, crown of thorns starfish and coral bleaching.
“That is why we continue to invest $35 million a year to reduce run-off and improve water quality and that is why the federal government is investing significant resources into reducing crown of thorns starfish.”
Powell said the Queensland government took its responsibilities for managing coastal development seriously.
“We can’t turn around the bad decisions by the previous Labor government overnight,” he said.
“We are working on a long-term strategy but with immediate actions.
“The Queensland ports strategy we released last year clearly states our intention to restrict future port development to the long established major ports.
“We have significantly scaled back the previous plans approved by the Bligh-led government in 2011.
“That proposal would have resulted in 38 million tonnes of material being dredged and would have in fact created a new island off Abbot Point.
“Our plans are small in contrast and we have applied rigorous conditions to ensure there is a net benefit to the water quality on the reef.
“These actions are entirely consistent with UNESCO’s requests.”
