Scientific head-to-head duel on Great Barrier Reef

The raging debate over the health of the Great Barrier Reef and the impact of unchecked science on farmers will step onto an online stage to face a massive mainstream audience on Thursday 8 October.

Throwing down the gauntlet for a scientific duel to Dr Paul Hardisty, CEO of the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) is Great Barrier Reef expert and independent scientist Dr Peter Ridd.

Dr Ridd, who has researched the GBR for three decades, is challenging Dr Hardisty to a head-to-head debate over the real state of the Reef and the level of quality checking in marine science.

“Dr Paul Hardisty, Director of AIMS, step up and face the music,” said Dr Ridd. “It’s time we had the conversation in the public arena. This will be an academic duel that is long overdue.”

AIMS is the preeminent science organisation based on the Great Barrier Reef.

Since bursting into the public arena on SkyNews in 2018 when interviewed by Peta Credlin around the lack of quality assurance in GBR science, after which Dr Ridd was sacked by James Cook University, he has garnered a major following in the mainstream arena.

Today (Friday 4 September), he stood alongside farmer groups driving a #farmersfeedus campaign as they announced that in just 100 days a petition to establish an Office of Science Quality Assurance has gained 5,428 signatures across both urban and regional Australia. More than 3,450 of those have gone directly into an MP-sponsored petition that is to be tabled in the Queensland Parliament as early as 8 September. The petition also calls for the revocation of the Reef Regulations Amendment
Act 2019, pushed through last September based on unchecked science.

The online forum will be sponsored by the Pioneer Cane Growers Organisation (PCGO), part the #farmersfeedus consortium that drove the petition.

Director of PCGO Max Musumeci said: “The Reef Regulations Amendment Act is based on unchecked science. This debate will bring into the community a robust discussion between AIMS and Dr Ridd over the facts around farming and the Great Barrier Reef. As Dr Ridd has said time and again, farming is NOT damaging the Great Barrier Reef, and as a farmer in the region adjacent to the Reef I can state quite categorically that we are the most committed custodians of the land and oceans on
which we work, live and spend our leisure time.

“The use of unchecked science to drive political decision-making and legislation, including the 2019 Reef Regulations Amendment Act, is massively impacting ALL farming sectors – the farmers that Australians rely on for 89% of all food and drink on our tables today.

Mr Musumeci added: “As Queensland goes to the polls on 31 October, the community needs to understand the truth around the Great Barrier Reef and the risk being posed by unchecked science to our farming industry.

“The various political parties also are being invited on 8 October to state their position on the future of the farming industry and the lack of quality assurance around the science used to make legislation, including the growing tide of Reef Regulations. This crosses all political boundaries.”

Dr Ridd and #farmersfeedus have an active social media profile on YouTube and Facebook, and will use those channels to share the forum with a wide audience while working within COVID social distancing requirements.

“The forum will be held in Townsville on 8 October, from 4.30pm, taking the battle around the health of the Great Barrier Reef to the heartland of GBR academia and the farmers’ fight,” Dr Ridd said.

“The Senate Inquiry held recently into the Reef Regulations imposed by the Queensland Government brought into the light a range of key information about data that needs to be examined in the public spotlight. In addition, the #farmersfeedus petition has shown the depth of feeling among the general public around the need for thorough checking of the science being used to make political decisions.

“We invite everyone across Australia to tune in to the forum on 8 October.”

About the forum:
There will be a structured format, with each of the debaters – Dr Ridd and Dr Hardisty – offered two periods of three minutes per topic.

The event will be moderated to strict time slots.

Invitees have been provided with a detailed invitation, including topics for discussion.

The topics will be:

  • Topic 1: Sediment from farms: Question: How much damage has it caused and to what
    percentage of the coral?
  • Topic 2: Pesticides: Question: How much damage to what percentage of the coral?
  • Topic 3: Nutrients: Question: Is there a link between farm fertilizer and Crown-of-Thorns
    starfish?
  • Topic 4: Coral growth rates: Question: Does agriculture affect coral growth rates?
  • Topic 5: Quality Assurance of GBR science: Question: Do we need to check the science behind the 2017 Scientific Consensus Statement?

The format will invite questions and comments from the audience.

Other invitees:

  • Minister for the Environment, Great Barrier Reef and Science Leeanne Enoch
  • Shadow Minister for the Environment and Great Barrier Reef David Crisafulli
  • Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) Leader and Traeger MP Robbie Katter
  • LNP candidate for the seat of Townsville John Hathaway.
  • Labor MP in the seat of Thuringowa Aaron Harper.
  • Pauline Hanson’s One Nation member in the seat of Mirani Stephen Andrew.

Background:
Dr Ridd was a Professor at James Cook University (JCU) who hit a tidal wave of opposition when he started to dispute the conventional wisdom that climate change was “killing” the Reef, and told Australia that there was no need for the government to be spending billions of dollars “fixing” a Reef that was healthy and thriving.

JCU sacked him, and Dr Ridd subsequently took the university to court, winning $1.2m in compensation for unlawful sacking. The Federal Court overturned that win in a 2-1 decision and Dr Ridd responded by saying he would appeal to the High Court and is preparing the case.

“My lawyers have carefully gone over the judgement and believe there are numerous strong grounds for appeal to the High Court of Australia. We are re-opening the fundraising campaign and will carry on with the legal action,” he said after the Federal Court ruling.

“In the final analysis, I was fired for saying that, because of systemic problems with quality assurance, work from the JCU coral reef centre, which also publishes extensively on climate change, was untrustworthy. I believe what I said was true and have given plenty of published evidence to support the statement. After I was fired, it was proven beyond doubt that I was correct when a group of seven international scientists who audited eight of the major studies from the JCU coral reef centre found them ALL to be 100% wrong. You can’t get much more scientifically untrustworthy than that.”


Date: Thursday 8 October

Time: 4.30pm

Location: Townsville – heart of Great Barrier Reef academia

Who: GBR Scientist Dr Peter Ridd V Dr Paul Hardisty, AIMS

Format: Face-to-face with social isolation protocols, streamed on social media.

Topics:
– Sediment from farms on the GBR
– Pesticides and the GBR
– Nutrients and the GBR
– Coral growth rates on the GBR
– Quality Assurance of GBR science

Dr Peter Ridd can be contacted on 0497 900 035 or 07 4770 8083
Pioneer Cane Growers Organisation (PCGO) Director Max Musumeci can be contacted on 0408 782 497

Reef Assist creating regional jobs and protecting the environment

JOINT STATEMENT

Premier and Minister for Trade
The Honourable Annastacia Palaszczuk

Minister for Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Minister for Science and Minister for the Arts
The Honourable Leeanne Enoch

The Palaszczuk Government today announced a $10 million Reef Assist funding boost to create regional jobs and support environmental projects in the Great Barrier Reef catchments.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the program – announced as part of Queensland’s Economic Recovery Plan – would support 11 projects and create around 130 regional jobs.

“Our plan is all about creating jobs to steer our economy as we recover from the global pandemic and the communities and industries that rely on the Reef are the ones who will benefit from this $10 million Reef Assist program,” the Premier said.

“This program will fund 11 on-the-ground projects in partnership with local governments and natural resource management organisations and create around 130 local jobs.

“The Wet Tropics Management Authority, NQ Dry Tropics and the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council will deliver five projects providing training and over 50 job opportunities through landscape restoration, restoring critically endangered species’ habitat and remediation works.

“In addition, almost 50 jobs will be generated by Jaragun Ecoservices, Reef Catchments NRM, Terrain NRM, and Douglas Shire Council which will deliver four projects that repair and restore riparian areas, control invasive species, improve natural ecosystem condition, and improve coastal resilience from the Wet Tropics to the Whitsundays.

“Two projects from the Townsville City Council and Reef Catchments NRM will generate around 25 jobs by growing conservation and nature-based tourism and improving land management of coastal areas.”   

Minister for Environment and the Great Barrier Reef Leeanne Enoch said these successful projects will also draw on the skills and knowledge of our First Nations peoples to create improved environmental management skills that cover both cultural and scientific practices.

“As Queensland recovers from the financial impacts of COVID-19, the Palaszczuk Government is the only government committed to creating job opportunities and these projects will provide a much-needed boost to our regional economies while protecting the Reef,” Minister Enoch said.

“Our total Reef investment is now $340 million since 2015 and the casual, short-term and full-time positions created from Reef Assist projects will also result in contractors, tourism providers and other local businesses benefiting from the flow-on effects of the projects.

“The Reef Assist program is all about investing in land management activities that provide environmental benefits, while also supporting regional Queensland and regional jobs.”

Dennis Ah-Kee, a Wanjuru-Yidinjii Elder and Director of Jaragun Ecoservices, said that he is thrilled for people of the Russell River catchment.

“The Reef Assist funding means eight new jobs will be created for Aboriginal people, enabling them to undertake catchment restoration while reconnecting and working on country,” Mr Ah-Kee said.

“This funding will also provide a welcomed economic boost to the township of Babinda, which has experienced some of the highest rates of unemployment in the region during the past decade.”

More information about the Reef Assist Program is available at: https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/coasts-waterways/reef/reef-assist 

ENDS

Media Contact:           Debbie Turner 0437 859 987 More info: Reef Assist

LNP’s plan to overhaul reef regulations in Queensland

Queensland’s draconian reef regulations would be overhauled if the LNP wins power in the upcoming state election.

LNP Leader Deb Frecklington this week promised to work alongside farmers and environmental groups to strike a balance to ensure agriculture can thrive while protecting the Great Barrier Reef.

Ms Frecklington has written to 28 agricultural groups including AgForce, Canegrowers, Australian Banana Growers Council, and regional cane and horticultural groups pledging to fix ‘Labor’s unworkable reef regulations.’

In the letter, co-signed by the LNP’s Great Barrier Reef spokesman and Broadwater MP David Crisafulli, the opposition outlines their plan to fix problems associated with the laws, including privacy concerns.

“The LNP fully supports Queensland farmers and we are determined to unlock the state’s agricultural potential, to supercharge our regions and create jobs.

“We believe it’s important to strike the right balance when it comes the state’s reef regulations and their impact on farmers.”

Ms Frecklington said the LNP had fought against the reef laws since they were introduced last year, stating the laws would hurt farming communities without improving environmental outcomes.

“Labor’s reef regulations do not strike a balance between preserving the environment and protecting local jobs.

“Instead, Labor’s laws hand over power to unelected bureaucrats and tie farmers up in unworkable red and green tape.

“The LNP believes governments should work alongside farmers and farming communities, instead of forcing unworkable laws on them.”

Ms Frecklington gave her commitment that an LNP government would work with the agricultural sector and environmental groups to develop new environmental reef standards which will be enshrined in legislation.

The five key principles to the LNP’s approach include:

  • Improving water quality standards to protect the Great Barrier Reef
  • Protecting and securing our valuable agricultural sector
  • Legislating minimum standards
  • Respecting property rights
  • Incentivising best practices

She said the LNP would ensure any changes to the regulations would provide certainty, respect privacy and rely on sound agronomic science.

“We need a partnership to build a sustainable agricultural industry and protect Queensland’s greatest natural asset, the Great Barrier Reef.”

Ms Frecklington also reiterated the LNP’s broader vision for regional Queensland and the agriculture sector, including building the new Bradfield Scheme, backing new dam projects and cutting the price of water for SunWater irrigators by almost 20 per cent.

Farmers say environment minister’s Great Barrier Reef claim is 10 million times wrong

QUEENSLAND farmers say Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch has again made the fake claim that 10.5 million tonnes of nitrogen is flooding into Great Barrier Reef receiving waters each year as a result of fertiliser used on farms.

Bundaberg Canegrowers manager Dale Holliss said the fake claim was also made in September 2019, just days before the Palaszczuk government pushed through the Environmental Protection (Great Barrier Reef Protection Measures) and Other Legislation Amendment Act.

“We believe the minister, speaking on ABC’s Country Hour program, meant to say she believed 10,500 tonnes of nitrogen entered the GBR inshore reef catchments each year, but instead said 10.5 million tonnes,” Mr Hollis said.

“It has suited her to push the reef regulations onto farmers based on unchecked science, and on this 10 million tonne figure she knows to be blatantly untrue.

“To support ongoing misinformation being used to demonise Australian farmers is indefensible.”

The push back by farmers against the Palaszczuk government comes as a two day Senate inquiry into reef regulations begins in Brisbane on Monday (July 27).

To support ongoing misinformation being used to demonise Australian farmers is indefensible.– Dale Hollis, Bundaberg Canegrowers

The latest call for Ms Enoch to come clean on fake figure also follows a furore this week where the Palaszczuk government attempted to initiate one of the controversial clauses in the new reef regulations laws.

“This clause has given the State Government the power to acquire from anyone who works with or for farmers, records about farm businesses,” said Mr Hollis, who also is a director of the National Irrigators Council and holds a Masters of Science in Environmental Management.

“When questioned by the media, it immediately backflipped and withdrew a tender process designed to put the newly acquired power into action.

“The Reef Regulations Amendment Act 2019 delivers regulation by stealth, with a lack of parliamentary scrutiny built in and powers given instead to unelected bureaucrats and the executive.

“This is a very dangerous power the government has given itself, from the perspective of all Queenslanders.”

Fact check

Bundaberg Canegrowers executive officer Tanya Howard said detailed research proved Ms Enoch’s 10.5 million tonne claim could not be substantiated.

Bundaberg Canegrowers executive officer Tanya Howard says Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch cannot substantiate her 10.5 million tonne claim.

 Bundaberg Canegrowers executive officer Tanya Howard says Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch cannot substantiate her 10.5 million tonne claim.

“The total sales of nitrogen in Queensland as determined by Fertiliser Australia in 2017 was 187,414 tonnes, and this includes nitrogen used in grain and cotton cropping which are not significant players in the reef catchments,” Ms Howard said.

“This is more than 10 million tonnes away from the minister’s allegation that 10.5mt of nitrogen are flowing into waters that enter the fringes of the Great Barrier Reef.

Fertiliser Australia records for all fertiliser products used in Queensland in 2017 totalled less than 1mt.

“In addition, it has been made clear any reach would be limited to the tiny inshore reefs, which make up around one per cent of the 344,000 sq km of the Great Barrier Reef.

“To put some perspective on the amount of nitrogen fertiliser found in the waters of the inshore reefs of the GBR, 10,500t would equate to the weight of 5c to 10c piece in an Olympic swimming pool. It is so miniscule as to be almost untraceable.”

Ms Howard also pointed out that cane farms, strongly targeted by Labor over the issue of alleged fertiliser run-off, are on the wane.

“Australian Sugar Milling Council figures shows that in 2014 there was 363,339ha of cane harvested in Queensland, but by 2019 this has dropped by 13,257ha,” she said.

“This is just yet another sign of the Australian farmers who are putting 88pc of all food and drink on every table across the nation being pushed to the wall by the rising tide of unwarranted red tape. It has to stop now.”

Petition

Bundaberg Canegrowers is part of a consortium of farmer groups running a petition under the banner of #farmersfeedus. It wants the Queensland Government to revoke the 2019 Reef Regulations Amendment Act and establish an Office of Science Quality Assurance to check the science being used to make political decisions.

The petition, launched in State Parliament just last month, has already gained almost 5000 signatures from voters across urban and regional areas.

Canegrower leaders blast ‘flawed’ Great Barrier Reef regulations

CANE industry leaders have pointed to key failing in policies designed to protect the Great Barrier Reef at Senate hearing being held in Brisbane this week.

Grower representatives from eight Canegrowers district organisations along with state Canegrowers chairman Paul Schembri say the Palaszczuk government’s escalation of regulation for farming in reef catchment areas has exposed significant deficiencies in the way governments develop policies.

Canegrowers’ four key recommendations to the Senate inquiry were:

– Removing the regulatory burden on growers and adopting long-term support for on-farm innovation.

– Restoring growers’ confidence in policy through a review of the way the science used, to justify it is managed and scrutinised.

– Ensuring water quality targets are credible and realistic.

– Developing trustworthy methods for evaluating improvements in farm practices and water quality.

“Fundamental to our concern is that the cane industry has been regulated for 10 years and there is no evidence that this heavy-handed approach is driving any meaningful change in the industry,” Canegrowers Innisfail chairman Joe Marano said.

“What has been driving change is our best management practice program, Smartcane BMP, and other projects which have focused on and worked with growers.

“A blunt regulatory strategy risks eroding this spirit of cooperation and, because of flaws in its design and intent, risks the future of the sugarcane industry.”

An analysis by Canegrowers shows the Queensland economy would cop a $1.3 billion hit if the Palaszczuk government proceeded with regulations that would push nitrogen use down 30 per cent below industry best practice levels.

“This misguided intent to push nitrogen use below best practice levels is behind reef targets, programs and report cards that are rolled out by governments,” Canegrowers Herbert River chairman Michael Pisano said.

“It puts the future of our industry and communities at risk with no direct evidence it would be of any benefit to the Reef.”

In addressing the science used by government to justify the regulations, Canegrowers is advocating for a review and overhaul of way that research on water quality is funded, managed, scrutinised and used to develop policy.

“We want a more open and robust process around the research, free of political interference,” Canegrowers Burdekin chairman Phil Marano said.

“Growers have shown a willingness over past decades to engage in environmental and sustainability programs where the approach is open cooperation and collaboration – and these are achieving results.”

Canegrowers is also calling for an independent review of the seriously deficient Paddock to Reef program of the Queensland Government which purports to assess industry progress towards water quality targets.

“The current process undervalues and seriously underestimates growers’ achievements by only looking at activity within government programs,” Canegrowers Mackay chairman Kevin Borg said.

“This leads to a distorted view of reality and the incorrect claim that change is not happening fast enough, and regulation is necessary.”

Canegrowers believes addressing all of these issues will rebuild the confidence of the community, and growers, in the design and implementation of measures to address impacts on the Reef.

Reef regulations inquiry hears from scientists

ONLY three per cent of the entire Great Barrier Reef has been negatively impacted by agriculture, according to scientists who gave evidence at a Senate inquiry into the state government’s controversial reef regulations this week.

The inquiry, which was held in Brisbane on Monday and Tuesday, was told that most of the impacted area was classed as ‘inner reef’.

Burdekin MP and Northern Queensland spokesman Dale Last said the state government should immediately set aside the reef bill until the inquiry’s federal Regional and Rural Affairs Committee returned their findings on October 1.

Mr Last said evidence from farming groups, environmentalists, reef scientists and the Queensland government was heard during the public hearings and it was clear the state government had got it wrong.

“Everyone wants to protect the reef, but this legislation was about trying to apportion blame wholly and solely at the feet of primary production and that’s simply not going to achieve anything,” Mr Last said.

“There is huge conjecture about the effect of agriculture on the reef and, even if you play devil’s advocate, only 3 per cent of the reef is affected according to scientists who gave evidence.

“Many scientists would tell you that the 3 per cent figure is over-inflated but, either way, agriculture is carrying a huge burden based on a lie.”

Mr Last said the exaggeration of the problem was joined by failed consultation and economic sleight of hand in a litany of errors identified by the Senate Inquiry.

“When this legislation was debated in the Queensland parliament, the LNP highlighted the sham that this consultation was but Labor said it was more than adequate,” Mr Last said.

“Nearly every Labor member who spoke on the legislation referred to $6 billion of economic value and 60,000 jobs relying on the reef.

“There was no mention of the facts that agriculture makes twice that economic contribution and that nearly half of the jobs were not even in Queensland.”

Mr Last said it was estimated the legislation would cost the average grower $38,000, with the impact on the Queensland economy $1.3 billion over the next decade.

LNP Senators described the evidence as ‘damning for the state government.’

Townsville based Senator Susan McDonald, who initiated the inquiry, said the evidence painted a grim picture of the state government’s consultation process.

“I was disappointed listening to farmers say how little effort the state government put into going on farm and helping them improve land management practices,” Ms McDonald said.

“These regulations unfairly and incorrectly would have us all believe farmers aren’t interested in protecting the environment.

“It’s sad to see a state government cashing in on Queensland’s farmers’ $12.9 billion contribution to our economy, and demonstrating such low regard for the progress being made by farmers to improve water quality – or for the costs they have incurred in doing so.”

Ms McDonald said study after study showed that runoff from farms has been reduced by industry, and that the actual amounts of runoff reaching the reef proper is minuscule.

“Numerous science witnesses said that agriculture mainly affected inner reefs, and it was noted that these inner reefs only make up about 3 per cent of the whole Great Barrier Reef.”

Senator Gerard Rennick was amazed that the state government’s regulations were set to cost farmers billions, at the precise moment when we need our economy growing to recover from the COVID pandemic.

Mr Rennick said what is obvious that natural weather events such as cyclones and flooding have a much greater impact on the reef than nutrient runoff.

“The agricultural industry has clearly been singled out despite many other industries also operating within the GBR basin. The state environment department has indicated these regulations will not stop the crown of thorns starfish or coral bleaching, which begs the question as to why they are being implemented other than to destroy farmer livelihoods,” Mr Rennick asked.