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UNESCO's World Heritage Committee is due to
decide in June whether to put the reef on its "in danger" list
because its corals have been badly damaged and some of its
animal species, including dugong and large green turtles, are
threatened.
Such a listing could lead to restrictions on shipping and port
expansions that could hit Australia's trade in commodities and
energy.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt issued proposed changes to
regulations to carry out the ban, which he announced in
November, barring sea dumping of dredged soil in the 345,000 sq
km Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The park is under federal
government control.
The Queensland state government also plans to ban dredge dumping
in a further 3,000 sq km of sea, including port areas, so the
whole of the World Heritage area, about the size of Germany,
would be covered.
The area governed by the state is where most dredge dumping has
occurred in the past.
The reef is at the heart of a campaign by green groups aiming to
stop development of huge new coal mines planned by two Indian
conglomerates, the Adani Group and GVK, and a port expansion to
ship that coal.
Green groups said the proposed dumping bans by federal and state
governments were a good start but did not go far enough because
dredging for port expansions would still go ahead.
"I almost feel like Greg Hunt is trying to come up with band-aid
solutions, rather than trying to solve the problem," said
Jessica Panegyres, political adviser for Greenpeace Australia
Pacific.
Dredging sends up plumes of sand that can smother corals, damage
seagrass and harm animal life.
The Queensland Resources Council warned that the bans could
limit future port expansions.
"We strongly believe that any blanket ban on capital dredge
material in the entire World Heritage Area does not represent
evidence-based policy and will not prove to be viable in the
long term," the council said in a statement.
(Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by Paul Tait)
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