Source: Australia Government Statements 2
Assistant Minister Nita Green: It’s fantastic to be here in Townsville with the tourism industry and specifically with Paul from Adrenaline, Snorkel and Dive, one of the local operators here in Townsville to talk about the Tourism Reef Protection Initiative. This is a program that the Albanese Labor Government has been partnering with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and tourism operators across the Reef to deliver Reef protection outcomes, which we know will have a real impact on the quality of the Great Barrier Reef. The Tourism Reef Protection Initiative is so fantastic because we know that tourism operators are out there on the water all day every day, and we wanted to partner with them so that we could get the most out of that opportunity.
Of course, the program was the brain child of AMPTO, we’ve got Gareth here from AMPTO today, after COVID when we really needed to make sure we could protect the jobs of tourism operators during that really difficult period. But what we’ve seen from the results that have been delivered today is that this is having a real impact on the health of the Reef. So we have tourism operators out there all the time. We’ve got about 23 operators across 26 sites conducting Reef surveys and doing things like removing drupella snails and crown of thorn starfish. And what that means is that we have an extra workforce out there delivering real outcomes for the Reef and making sure that when people go and visit and the tourism industry shows off the Reef that they see the best quality sites possible. Now, I want to really pay tribute to all of the operators across the Reef catchments from Cairns, all the way down to Lady Elliot Island who do a fantastic job in delivering this program.
But it’s all thanks to the work of the Great Barrier Marine Park Authority, who do an excellent job administering this program. And it’s not possible without our tourism operators either. They have had some tough times over the last couple of years. We’ve gone through COVID, we’ve faced floods and cyclones, but every single day they’re out there and they’re the face of the Reef when tourism visitors come to see it and having them out there protecting the Reef means that we are working together in partnership. I’m a big fan of this program if you can’t already tell, but it’s part of a broader suite of measures that our government’s delivering for the Reef. Of course, we are delivering $1.2 billion to protect the Reef itself because we know how important it is for jobs. Here in Queensland, 77,000 jobs are supported by the Reef, so when we invest $1.2 billion, we are investing in those jobs here in Queensland.
We also at the election, committed to deliver a $10 million education fund for the Reef, and what that means is that we’ll be partnering with tourism operators to bring more kids from schools to come here, see the Reef themselves, learn about why it’s so important to protect it, and then go back home, tell their parents they need to visit as well. We know that this $10 million package is going to also have a big impact on the tourism operators here in Queensland, and we’ll be working with them to roll that out, including more marketing to bring international visitors here to the Reef as well. I know that people here in North Queensland are incredibly passionate about the Reef, and that is why we are so passionate as a government to protect it, to make sure that the jobs out there are protected. And this is a fantastic program that shows what you can do when you really partner together with industry, with science, with the community, you can deliver fantastic outcomes for the Reef.
Gareth Phillips, CEO of the Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators: I’m very pleased to stand here today with Senator Nita Green to talk about this amazing program, the Tourism Reef Protection Initiative. Marine Tourism Operators on the Great Barrier Reef have an absolute passion for the Great Barrier Reef, and they’ve done site stewardship since they’ve been operating for decades on the Great Barrier Reef. But the results that we’ve been seeing through the Tourism Reef Protection Initiative are unparalleled and could only be achieved through the partnership we have with the federal government, with the Marine Park Authority, and I’ll also include our guests on the boats. The removal of over 5,000 Crown of Thorns Starfish on the Great Barrier Reef equates to protecting over 50,000 square meters of coral. Now, that’s just an amazing achievement that supports the resilience of the Great Barrier Reef, and that’s just one of the great milestones that have been achieved through this partnership.
So on behalf of the Marine Park operators, we would like to extend our sincere thanks to the Reef Authority to the federal government, and also importantly our guests because without our guests being out on the vessels, we couldn’t have this partnership and play the significant role that we do in protecting and observing the Great Barrier Reef. So if I encourage anyone to do anything to help protect the Great Barrier Reef, it’s to come visit it because you’re not only getting to see the beautiful Great Barrier Reef we’re inspired by, you’re supporting infrastructure and partnerships that genuinely have meaningful outcomes for the Great Barrier Reef. So thank you very much. You’re
Journalist: Citizen science like this is so important to maintaining such a large area as well. Can you tell me how each individual operator really pitches in to make it work really well?
Phillips: So citizen science is key and what this program also does, not only does it include the citizen side of the science and management, but it also goes a little bit more into the science side by having our visitors coming on the boats, our infrastructure that we use to get out to the Great Barrier Reef daily across the whole Great Barrier Reef, north to south, east to west, without the guests doing that, the value for money to get out the Reef is going to be extremely expensive. And including operators who know their site specifically like we’ve got Paul today from Adrenaline, Dive and Snorkel, their local knowledge is so key that they can actually target their efforts most effectively through what is needed. And that is guided through that relationship with the Marine Park Authority. As the park managers of the park, they can say, we need this, we need this.
And having that local knowledge, that’s where the operators really pull that in, and that’s also co-benefit with our access while having the guests there, sharing that knowledge with the guests, talking about the real impacts of climate change, but still keeping people hopeful and inspired by the Great Barrier Reef is so key, and that’s the way we are going to make a difference for the Great Barrier Reef and all natural environments throughout the world. So it’s that local knowledge, but in partnering with the Reef Authority and with science and even with Traditional Owners, just catapults that knowledge and meaningful outcomes of the Reef.
Journalist: From your perspective, how has this initiative really helped you also manage the Reef as well?
Paul Crocombe, Manager of Adrenaline Snorkel and Dive: The Tourism Reef Protection Initiative, what it’s allowed us to do is be able to keep more people employed. We do day-to-day management on the site itself. We look after the Reef by helping to remove some of the predators, like crown of thorns starfish and drupella snails, which they can have a big impact on the area of Reef if they’re left unchecked. Now, we can’t cull them from the whole Reef, but we do protect areas that are of significance. The day-to-day education we provide to the customers also helps them to understand what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, but also encouraging them to participate in the citizen science on the day with fish counts and things like that. But also when they go home, if they understand what the threats are, things they do at home can affect the atmosphere, which can affect the Reef on the other side of the world. So it’s a total day of education, but also it’s information and entertainment as well, I suppose, all tied together.
Journalist: How much of the Reef do you cover? What kind of areas do you monitor?
Crocombe: Our site that we go to regularly is the northern end of John Brewer Reef, which is where the Museum of Underwater Art is. And our area that we manage is a few hundred meters long and few hundred meters wide. So certainly cannot cover the whole Reef, but we look after that area. So on a day-to-day basis, we might only see a few crown of thorns starfish, but by keeping them in check, it means we’re protecting that area. The drupella snails, they’re only a small snail, but when you get a lot of those, they can do quite a lot of damage if they’re left unchecked. So again, on a day-to-day basis, I’d only get half a dozen. Some days you might get 20 to 30 another day. So it does vary. Part of our management of the area as well is keeping it clear of any rubbish. We don’t usually find much as it is the customers we take out there, they’re educated about what it’s about to protect the Reef to help keep it clean so we don’t get much rubbish on the bottom unless someone drops something accidentally, then it’s picked up on the next day usually.
Journalist: And so that’s on your way out to the Reef, that’s what you’ll tell people about is some of those environmental impacts?
Crocombe: They certainly have information provided to them. We give them some information about what site they’re going to and what they likely to see. During lunch break we have a Reef-ed talk and we give them a lot more information about what the impacts or potential impacts on the Reef are, the cyclones, crown of thorns starfish, floods. There’s lots of different potential impacts and certainly increases in water temperature due to climate change. That’s certainly a big part of it.
Journalist Do you talk with other operators about this work?
Crocombe: So there’s a few different programs the Reef Authority have established, the Master Reef Guide program where we’ve got people who are given extra training to help provide good factual information. Previously, years ago, people used to give Reef talks, but they weren’t always accurate and weren’t always true to what we’ve seen. So through the Master Reef Guides, which is another initiative of the Marine Park Authority to be able to increase the level of expertise, and then also at the training for the Reef Protection Initiative, again, that increases the level of knowledge, skill level of all the staff on the area and through the network of the Master Reef Guide program, with the communication with the different other operators, you can sort of see where the impacts are happening and what’s happening each to those areas. Thank you.
Journalist: Can you tell me from the Authority what this initiative does?
Fiona Merida, Director of Reef Education and Engagement GBRMPA: So this is a world leading initiative that actually takes everyday tourism and turns it into Reef stewardship. And if we do this across the entire length of the Great Barrier Reef, which is enormous, then we are supercharging our knowledge of the Reef not only on a daily basis, but also over time with the trends that are being collected. So this initiative is really about recognising that there is capacity within this incredible tourism industry on the Great Barrier Reef, how we can invest in that capacity. And through this program, we’ve already seen that we’ve trained over 150 tourism staff from all different backgrounds and including those with science degrees. And so we’re really honing in on this fine scale understanding of sites so that there can be rapid response to change that occurs and so that we can have better information about those incremental changes that are occurring out on the Great Barrier Reef every day.
So not only is this initiative change the way that the tourism industry is interacting with the Reef and giving them the opportunity to get out there and be actively involved in the protection and assist the recovery of their sites, but it also has given us some of the most incredible statistics. So the initiative has submitted over 25,000 fine scale benthic assessments of the Reef and has removed over 360,000 coral eating snails, which are called drupella. They really compromise the structure of coral colonies so that they’re not as resilient or able to resist when there are storms at locations. So just doing that alone is building the integrity of those sites. And they’ve also collected and removed over four and a half thousand crown of thorn starfish, but they’ve also taken hundreds of school kids out to the Reef as well. And really importantly, created really genuine partnerships with Traditional Owners whose Sea Country they’re operating on. And there’s been over 400 visits by Traditional Owners out to these sites to connect with Country and also to offer these tourism operators some of their incredible knowledge.
Journalist: Can you also talk about local operators essentially working together on this greater work?
Merida: I’ve been really fortunate to work with the Great Barrier Reef tourism industry for over 20 years, and historically there would be conversations that would be comparing all of the most incredible things that operators were seeing out on the Reef and at their sites. There’s stories that you could tell forever in relation to how incredible the Great Barrier Reef is. Now through this network, you sit with tourism operators, owners, people have been in the industry for a long time, and they’re talking to me about what little level of disease they might be seeing at their sites, if there’s any crown of thorn starfish around what their coral cover is like at their locations. So the narrative around the Reef space and the conversations that we’re having across the network is really helping to inform where things are happening in different places on the Reef, but also helping operators to share some of the things that they’re doing that is working at their sites with each other.
Green: TRPI really shines during summer and we are about to go into summer, and summer is always challenging for the Great Barrier Reef, but when we’ve got tourism operators that are out there every single day, they’re the eyes and ears of the Great Barrier Reef. What that means is that last summer and going into this summer, we will have much better data about what is happening every single day so that the Reef Authority can keep an eye on what’s going on and react if necessary. We provide really up-to-date information to the community about what we’re seeing out there, but that information has been strengthened by this program.
Journalist: Townsville elected, a new mayor recently. Just want to grab your thoughts around that after the last 18 months or so with the previous mayor?
Green: Yeah. I reached out to Nick and congratulated him on his election, and it’s good to see that that’s been certified today and soon he’ll be sworn in. I think that it is going to be a fresh start for Townsville. It has been a very difficult 18 months. I made my views about the previous mayor well-known, and I really want to thank Ann-Maree Greaney for the work that she did as the acting mayor, but I’m looking forward to working with Nick. We’ve had a good relationship as the Duty Senator for his electorate, and we will be making sure that we are delivering for Townsville together. I know he’s got a lot of work to do, but this is a town that’s ready to move on and ready to shine.
Journalist: You kind of touched on it, the working relationship moving forward with Nick, given that he has worked with you at a federal level of course, so I’m guessing that’s going to be good moving forward?
Green: Yeah, look, I’ve always had a good relationship with the Townsville City Council, and I will continue to do that no matter who the mayor is, but I’m excited about the opportunity to work with Nick going forward. I think that Townsville has a lot to offer, but it really does need someone at the helm advocating down in Canberra, down in Brisbane, and I will make sure that I’m working very closely with Nick on those advocacy projects.