KAP calls for feds to be consistent on reef policy

6 August 2021

THE Sydney Morning Herald reports that the Federal Environment Minister has endorsed the Queensland Government’s reef regulations, while at the same time the Special Envoy to Northern Australia has called for their removal.[1]

Katter’s Australian Party are calling on the LNP Federal Government and State Opposition, to clearly state its position on Queensland’s laws, and give certainty to North Queensland’s farmers who have been unfairly targeted by the regulations.

Hinchinbrook MP, Nick Dametto, has a bill to repeal the Reef regulations which is going through the committee process and is set for debate in Queensland’s Parliament later this year.

Nick Dametto said, “I am calling out the hypocrisy within the Coalition. We have one Federal Minister saying that the State Government is doing a brilliant job with the draconian legislation that was introduced over the Reef catchment area growers from agriculture to sugar.

“This draconian legislation is being enacted this year. People will have to improve their farming practices ensuring that they meet stringent regulations,” he said.

“Then we have Susan McDonald coming out saying that she opposes the legislation! Is Senator McDonald just calling out from the sidelines? Does Senator McDonald have power within her own Party?

“She must come out and say if she backs her government or if she backs the KAP Reef Regulation legislation that is going through the House at the moment. Furthermore, we are calling on the State LNP to come clean and support this new legislation.”

Kennedy MP, Bob Katter, said restrictive legislation on Reef runoff was originally introduced by the LNP at a Federal level.

“I know because I was in the Coalition as a Member of Parliament and I had to suffer ignominy of this being implemented, which is one of the many reasons that I left,” he said.

“It is continuous, active hypocrisy for the Senator from Queensland to say she is opposed to the Federal Minister’s endorsement, but she is a member of the Government. That’s what I had to live with, that’s what George Christensen had to live with, and you reach a point where you say, ‘I can’t live with it any longer.’

“If you close down the cane industry and the coal industry you will end up with only fifty thousand people living in North Queensland.”

“The latest report into the health of the Great Barrier Reef has found historic signs of hard coral regrowth, thanks to a year without disturbances from heatwaves and tropical cyclones.[2]

“We’ve never seen anything of this magnitude, lead researcher Dr Mike Emslie from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) said. And David Attenborough said the reef was marvellous on the front page of the Courier Mail.

“So, if the reef is ‘marvellous’ and coral is regrowing at historic levels, why are we bashing up the canefarmers and coalminers?”

[1] https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/coalition-argues-over-farm-regulations-to-boost-great-barrier-reef-health-20210803-p58ff2.html

[2] https://www.couriermail.com.au/technology/environment/historic-signs-of-great-barrier-reef-regrowth/news-story/a4acc5e0930ae9aaad7c5f5ff8d8c028