00:00UNESCO is threatening to list the Great Barrier Reef as in danger.
00:06How confident are you that that can be avoided?
00:09Well Jessica, no one in the world cares more about the Great Barrier Reef than Queenslanders.
00:14For many of us it's in our backyard, it's right there on our doorstep, whether that's
00:19our farmers in the catchments or our mayors, councillors and their communities along the
00:24length and breadth of the reef.
00:25So I know Queenslanders, more than anyone, are passionate about ensuring that we protect
00:30it.
00:31So how confident are you that it can be avoided?
00:33Well that's ultimately up to UNESCO, but we will be working with those communities, with
00:38those people on the ground, with the federal government to ensure that we avoid that.
00:43UNESCO has acknowledged the work and the effort being made, but it's also called for you to
00:48be more ambitious.
00:50Are you prepared to be more ambitious?
00:53Well, I'm the guy that was in this role over a decade ago when we took a very ambitious
00:59step and sat down and said, we don't want to work against our farmers, we actually want
01:03to work with them.
01:04We established best management practice programs with our cane farmers, with our graziers, and
01:09they've since been expanded to the horticultural industry.
01:12And I get the sense that over the last decade that I haven't been in the job, some of those
01:16interactions with our landholders in particular have probably not progressed the way they should
01:20have.
01:21So I'm keen to get back working with our farmers in particular to ensure that we're doing everything
01:27we can.
01:28But importantly, looking at the whole of the catchment as well.
01:31They're very ambitious and there's potentially more that we can do too in that space.
01:35That's my question, I guess.
01:36Do you need to do more in terms of crack down even further on pesticide and fertiliser use
01:43or crack down on land clearing?
01:45Do you need to do more in that space?
01:46Well, I think it's more about working with our landholders than cracking down.
01:50It's about incentive.
01:52But I think there is more that we can do.
01:53But I also have the honour of serving as the tourism minister.
01:57And in your program, you demonstrated what our scientists are doing around more heat resistant
02:03coral and looking at how that sits in the reef.
02:07We know that a number of our tourism operators would love to offer that experience to people
02:12coming and visiting the reef.
02:14They want to get out there in that regenerative tourism and be a part of the solution.
02:18The scientific consensus is that human induced climate change is the
02:23overriding threat to the Great Barrier Reef.
02:25Do you agree with that?
02:26Yes.
02:27Why do you say that?
02:28Well, that's what the literature all says and you can't refute that.
02:33I guess the reason why I ask is that in 2012, you said that you were a bit sceptical and
02:38still to be convinced about the degree to which humans are influencing climate change.
02:44Is that still your position?
02:46It's interesting that that comment was taken the way it was.
02:49I very much believe in climate change and am confident that the science is right.
02:53And that humans are influencing it.
02:55Correct.
02:56So then in terms of climate change policies, the LNP government has committed to net zero
03:01emissions by 2050.
03:03How are you going to achieve that?
03:05Well, the good thing is we're on track already.
03:10The Treasurer and the Minister for Energy is currently reviewing our energy roadmap moving
03:16forward.
03:17We've made it clear that we want to deliver net zero by 2050, but we also want a path that
03:23means we have affordable, reliable and sustainable energy.
03:26And the Treasurer is working on that as we speak.
03:28And you're working with him on that as Environment Minister?
03:31Yes.
03:32How big a role will renewable energy play?
03:34Well, that has a very important role.
03:37And despite some of the conversations that are occurring around the state, renewables will
03:42continue to play and will increasingly play a strong role in our energy mix.
03:47Because so far a couple of big projects, wind farms, for example, have been knocked on
03:50the head.
03:51That sort of seems to suggest a certain direction around wind farms and the government's policy
03:56on that.
03:57Well, at the same time, a number have been approved and are progressing because they've
04:00demonstrated that they're working with the local communities to get beneficial outcomes
04:05for that broader community.
04:07At the recent LNP state convention a couple of weeks ago, there was a vote that the federal
04:13coalition should abandon net zero policies.
04:16Did you vote in that?
04:17I was present, but as you rightly pointed out in that question, that was a motion that was
04:22directed to the federal parliamentary wind.
04:25So you didn't cast a vote?
04:27I was approached with interest as to the discussion and the outcome.
04:29What did you make of it?
04:31Very clearly that there was some direction given by our party members to our federal
04:35colleagues in this matter.
04:36That would be in contradiction to where the state stands.
04:39Well, I don't have an issue with that given it was a motion about the federal parliamentary
04:44wing.
04:45We've been very clear in our commitment to deliver on net zero by 2050.
04:48Well, what's your message to the federal coalition on what their position should be?
04:53I think what we've demonstrated at the Queensland level is you can have a goal, but you also
04:57can take the people of Queensland on that journey as long as you ensure you've got that affordability
05:03and that reliability.
05:04We saw under the previous Labor government that in their rush to achieve certain targets, in
05:09particular interim targets, that we weren't getting reliable or affordable energy.
05:14We were seeing our coal-fired power stations not maintained.
05:17We also saw that a number of renewable energy proponents did not take their communities on
05:22that journey.
05:23So we've made it very clear that we support the renewable energy market, but we want them
05:27to work with the communities in which they're operating.
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