Australian PM Promises To Disburse Additional IDR 10 Trillion To Protect Great Barrier Reef

JAKARTA - Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday pledged an additional about $703 million to protect the Great Barrier Reef to support thousands of tourism jobs, months ahead of federal elections.

Coral reefs, one of Australia's most famous natural attractions but under threat from global warming, have become a lightning rod for criticism of the ruling conservative coalition's support for fossil fuels.

PM Morrison, who is under pressure over his handling of the country's worst COVID-19 outbreak, sparked by the Omicron variant, said the investment would help protect some 64,000 jobs in reef-dependent Queensland.

The northeastern state will be a 'big battleground', when PM Morrison goes to the polls in May to win a fourth straight term for his party. His conservative coalition currently holds 23 of the state's 30 lower house seats in Parliament.

"We support the health of coral reefs and the economic future of Queensland tourism operators, hospitality providers and communities at the heart of the coral reef economy," he said in a statement.

The additional funding, which will be used over the next nine years, will add to an existing A$2 billion package designed to protect coral reefs from environmental threats over the next three decades.

Comprised of more than 3,000 individual reefs spanning 2,300 km (1,430 mi), the Great Barrier Reef has lost more than half of its corals over the past three decades, with ocean heatwaves triggering three major bleaching events in the past five years.

More than half of the new funds will be used to improve water quality, by preventing soil erosion and limiting runoff of nutrients and pesticides from agriculture. The remainder will be used to target invasive species and for monitoring systems.

Environmental group Greenpeace said it was "surprising" to see the government planning to allocate more funds while ignoring climate change.

PM Morrison has firmly ruled out taking tougher measures on greenhouse gas emissions, arguing it would cost jobs, and has ruled out strengthening Australia's 2030 emissions targets.

Regarding the plan to increase the budget, the Opposition Labor Party described the funding as an election act.

"The government has left the tourism business in far north Queensland in dire straits, now with 5 minutes to the election campaign, they want to pretend they care," Jim Chalmers told reporters.

To note, the coral reef was almost listed as an endangered World Heritage Site by the United Nations last year. After intensive lobbying by Australia, the UN panel postponed the vote until early 2022.