Peter Garrett, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment, Heritage and Arts has issued a statement on his website entitled “New research points to collapse of Great Barrier Reef: Labor calls for comprehensive action ” discussing the recent article on the decline of Indo-Pacific reefs (in particular the Great Barrier Reef):
New research showing a severe decline in coral reefs is a wake-up call to the Howard Government. Comprehensive action to save the Great Barrier Reef from collapse is urgently needed.
The Great Barrier Reef is our greatest natural asset but the failure of the Howard Government to introduce a comprehensive climate change plan is compounding its risk of extinction.
The University of Carolina researchers, John Bruno and Elizabeth Selig, have been backed by Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Director of the Centre for Marine Studies at the University of Queensland.
But the story doesn’t end there. ABC and Channel 7 news are now reporting that Garrett applied to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority for scientific reports on the health of the Great Barrier Reef through a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request, which have since been refused on the grounds that the Garrett was seeking the documents to assist with his political campaign. Strange times indeed.
