The government must take responsibility for the Great Barrier Reef and stop looking for someone else to blame | Peter Garrett
When Unesco recommended the reef be placed on the ‘in danger’ list, the Coalition’s response was to shift the blame. We must do better
- Unesco recommends reef world heritage site be listed as ‘in danger’
- Timeline: decades of damage and Australia’s fight to stop ‘in danger’ listing
Escaping responsibility has become the recurrent theme of the Morrison government. Whether it is the glacial progress of the vaccination rollout, dealing with the megafires two summers ago, or the parlous state of the Great Barrier Reef, someone else is always to blame.
When Unesco released its recommendation to the World Heritage Committee in June to place the Great Barrier Reef on the “in danger” list, the first reaction of the federal government was to blame China.
Related: Australia demands world heritage experts visit Great Barrier Reef ahead of ‘in danger’ list decision
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