Thread by @David_Ritter

Today it was confirmed that 91% of the Great Barrier Reef was impacted by mass bleaching in 2022.
In light of this terrible news, it is worth examining in detail the record of @ScottMorrisonMP's government - and the failure to take action to protect the Reef.
Here's a 🧵 #auspol

First, let’s remember: under the UNESCO treaty, Australia promised to do its 'utmost' to protect the Reef.
The Reef’s greatest threat is climate change, driven by burning coal, oil & gas. So our politicians have a duty to act on climate change to protect the Reef.

Let’s start back in May 2019, when Scott Morrison stated that the Coalition government had ‘saved the Great Barrier Reef’.
Countless scientific studies at the time and since have shown the scale of this untruth.
theguardian.com/environment/20…

In Sept 2019, Morrison told the UN Australia was ‘doing its bit’ on climate with a ‘vibrant, resilient & protected’ Reef - 1 month after @gbrmarinepark’s report found the Reef’s outlook had moved from “poor” to “very poor” & with no federal climate policy: theconversation.com/defiant-scott-…

In Nov 2019, the Australian Academy of Science told a Senate Inquiry it was ‘greatly concerned’ over the Australian government misrepresenting scientific evidence on the Reef to suit an agenda of misinformation about its health: aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_…

In June 2020, experts said the Australian Govt had violated its legal obligations to protect the Reef under the World Heritage Convention: theguardian.com/environment/20…

In Sept & Oct 2020, scientists gave evidence of Australian politicians misrepresenting and refusing to accept scientific evidence to avoid admitting the deteriorating state of the Reef’s health: theguardian.com/environment/20…

In June 2021, after the @IEA called on the world to stop any new coal, oil or gas, and other world leaders shifted to larger climate targets, the Australian government refused to budge our measly 2030 targets and loaned $175 million to a Qld coal mine:
brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queen…

In the same month, the Australian government claimed that it was 'blindsided' by the announcement of UNESCO's plan to declare the Great Barrier Reef 'in danger'.
This was clearly absurd given years of clear warnings of the Reef’s deteriorating health:

https://twitter.com/David_Ritter/status/1408190826144964608

The Morrison government followed these deceitful claims with a cynical, sleazy lobbying effort to push back the listing of the Reef as ‘in danger’, despite agreement from many experts that it is, in fact, in mortal peril:
science.org/content/articl…

As part of this lobbying, the Morrison government pressured the Australian Institute of Marine Science on a key scientific report on the Reef, and selectively leaked to the Murdoch media:
abc.net.au/news/2021-09-0…

In October 2021, the Morrison government finally offered a net zero ‘plan’. Unfortunately, it was met with global derision, and universally panned as entirely insufficient to combat the climate crisis:
news.com.au/technology/env…

In November 2021, a dozen countries accused the Morrison government of attempting to block the UNESCO process for listing sites such as the Great Barrier reef as ‘in danger’:
theguardian.com/environment/20…

In February 2022, the government announced $1 billion of funding for the reef - but this package included no funding or initiatives for emissions reduction, so did not address the greatest threat to the Reef’s future:
​​abc.net.au/news/2022-01-2…

This funding commitment, spread over nine years, also pales in comparison to the commitment of over $10 billion/year the Morrison government spends subsidising fossil fuels (based on 2020-21 expenditure):
australiainstitute.org.au/post/australia…

This was also accompanied by an updated report to UNESCO which cynically sought to divert responsibility by arguing all the world’s coral reefs are threatened by climate change, so the GBR and Australia’s actions on climate are not relevant:
​​smh.com.au/politics/feder…

In March 2022, it was also revealed the Australian government had pushed to soften wording in the next IPCC Report to say the Reef is not yet in crisis, despite the consistent increase in bleaching events over the past decade:
theguardian.com/environment/20…

The Coalition government knows what needs to be done - it just refuses to do it.
Recently the government’s own Special Envoy Warren Entsch stated the Reef’s future depends on greater climate action.
smh.com.au/politics/feder…

Australia’s recently updated Reef 2050 Plan, supposedly designed to protect & preserve the GBR, only contains references to reducing emissions through the govt’s inadequate net-zero plan, despite climate change being the biggest threat to the Reef:
theguardian.com/australia-news…

No policy or action taken can truly protect the Reef, and no leader can suggest they are conserving it, without being supported by meaningful climate action. This is the big lie countless Australian politicians have hid behind for years:
theguardian.com/sustainable-bu…

A recent report found Australia increased its fossil fuel subsidies by 48% since the Paris Agreement in 2015. Burning coal, oil & gas fuels the climate crisis
Continuing these subsidies undermines suggestions the govt is doing its best to protect the Reef: assets.bbhub.io/professional/s…

Contrary to Morrison’s favourite line that we are ‘doing our bit’, Australia is currently on track to have the most carbon-intensive economy of any major developed nation by 2030:
igcc.org.au/new-us-2030-em…

Preserving the Reef requires clear & meaningful climate action; developing a meaningful net zero plan (by 2035) and calling a moratorium on new coal, oil and gas projects. Instead, Australia was recently ranked last out of 170 nations for climate action. washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/…

The government’s current climate targets are so insufficient @GreenpeaceAP and @EDO last year delivered legal notice directly to Scott Morrison advised he is in breach of his World Heritage Treaty obligations to protect the Reef:
​​edo.org.au/2021/11/16/leg…

So, it’s time to cut the crap. We know the Reef is in danger, but we also know how to protect it.
In #Election22 our leaders must address how they will safeguard Australians and our magnificent natural heritage by cutting emissions & urgently phasing out fossil fuels. #auspol