The full cost of meeting water-quality targets on the Great Barrier Reef is $8.2 billion, about half the amount claimed in draft estimates leaked to the ABC in the days before the federal election.
In June, the ABC reported “secret Queensland government modelling” that put the cost of achieving the desired level of water quality at $16bn over 10 years, but a review of final recommendations made by a water-quality taskforce appointed by the Queensland government found half the 2025 target could be reached for $600 million.
Measures to achieve final percentage-point gains became increasingly expensive and should be deferred so more cost-effective methods could be identified, the Alluvium Consulting report said.
The Queensland government has accepted the taskforce findings and federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg said both governments were committed to protecting the Reef.
Environment groups said investing $8.2bn to dramatically reduce the pollution flowing to the Great Barrier Reef should be an urgent national priority.
“This report confirms that the money committed so far by Australia falls far short of what’s required,” said WWF-Australia spokesman Sean Hoobin.
The Alluvium report said while the costs of achieving the targets may appear daunting at first, they were likely to be insignificant when compared with the long-term benefits of maintaining the Great Barrier Reef’s resilience.
The report’s authors said there was significant uncertainty in the costs estimates because of the availability, variability and quality of data used to generate them.
The external peer reviewer of the report, professor John Rolf from Central Queensland University, said the research confirmed that a well-managed agricultural sector could continue to co-exist with a healthy reef through improvements made to land management practices.
Source: The Australian
By: GRAHAM LLOYD
