18th Oct 2023, 3:42 PM – Senate Committees - Environment and Communications References Committee - Reference

The majority voted against the following amended motion:

That the following matter be referred to the Environment and Communications References Committee for inquiry and report by 10 March 2024:

The Albanese Government's decision in mid-2022 to adopt a series of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee policy directives in relation to the Great Barrier Reef and other parts of regional Queensland, with particular reference to:

(a) specific practical information, including any detailed scientific evidence, on which the decision was based;

(b) impracticality of, and risks associated with, a number of the policies devised by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee;

(c) accusations that the Prime Minister and other relevant federal ministers have not consulted, or even met, with a multitude of individuals and business who are adversely impacted by the decision;

(d) the many detrimental ramifications of this lack of consultation;

(e) the breadth of the economic and social damage that is already being, and will continue to be, caused by this decision, including to farmers, graziers, commercial fishers, a host of small business operators and their respective families;

(f) subsequent lack of information, and delays—and accompanying uncertainty and anxiety—in relation to any compensation that might be provided as a consequence of the decision; and

(g) any other related matters.