The laws that protect our Great Barrier Reef from pollution are under attack.
We have discovered that a dangerous industry lobby group calling themselves ‘Farmers United’ have just launched a statewide campaign, trying to use the Queensland Election to get vital water pollution laws repealed. This opaque lobby group is also trying to establish a new authority to undermine decades of Reef water science by “double-checking” the quality of the science – a tactic designed to cast doubt and delay action while pollution continues.
We cannot let them succeed. Will you sign the petition to keep our water pollution laws?
Sediment and fertiliser runoff from farms is a major threat to inshore coral reefs and seagrass meadows of the Great Barrier Reef. Nutrient pollution of the Reef’s waters is leading to increased phytoplankton, which drives massive outbreaks of the coral-eating Crown-of-Thorns Starfish.
These laws were called for by the Great Barrier Reef Water Science Taskforce four years ago, after years of voluntary measures to stop farm pollution have failed. We cannot allow our laws to go backwards after waiting so long for their implementation.
We need all political parties to commit to keeping these laws, and properly fund the work needed to clean up the waters of our Reef.