Great Barrier Reef safe for now

Tanya Plibersek can re-cork the champagne on UNESCO’s decision not to inscribe the Great Barrier Reef on its World Heritage in-danger list this year. The reprieve will last until February, when the international body will reconsider the issue based on what progress the government can show on new demands for action. The list of demands was spelled out in August when UNESCO first said the reef would not be put on the in-danger list this year. The list includes lifting Australia’s climate change ambitions to meet a 1.5C target, banning gillnet fishing across the entire reef, further restrictions on mining and land clearing, stopping dams, and continuing to fund billions of dollars worth of environmental works.

The government has already invested $1.2bn, legislated a 2030 climate target (which does not satisfy the 1.5C demand), banned coalmines and agreed to rewrite the nation’s environmental laws. For green groups and UNESCO, the in-danger process has become a never-ending stick with which to beat the federal government into submission. Against the angst, coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef has grown to its highest level since records began. But there is no shortage of advice from scientists that reef catastrophe is just around the corner.

UNESCO’s reprieve allows for a momentary reset. Ms Plibersek would be wise to reflect on the fact that last-minute reprieves have been secured by her predecessors, including Tony Burke, Greg Hunt, Josh Frydenberg and Sussan Ley.

What happens in the future will be on Ms Plibersek’s watch and she would be naive to think the issue won’t continue to be a running environmental sore for Labor.