Queensland election 2015: Great Barrier Reef election scorecard awaits LNP's new policies
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The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has released a reef policy scorecard ahead of voters heading to the polls this weekend, despite no new polices on the future of the Great Barrier Reef from the LNP.
The group originally presented a scorecard on January 24, which did not include LNP's policies.
The new scorecard uses the LNP's exisiting policies after no response was received.
National manager of fresh water for WWF Nick Heath told 612 ABC's Brisbane Steve Austin that time was running out for the Premier to commit to a firm policy for the reef.
"All of the parities responded except the LNP, so we have assessed them on their public record to date," he said.
"We gave all parties a deadline, all parties were able to meet that except the LNP; we gave them an extension but they unfortunately were not able to meet it."
Mr Heath hoped Campbell Newman would share the LNP's future polices for the Great Barrier Reef in the next 36–48 hours.
"The Premier is calling on a discussion on jobs – the Great Barrier Reef is jobs. He is calling for a discussion on the economy – the Great Barrier Reef is the economy," he said.
"We need to give certainty to the jobs and the economy that is supported by the Great Barrier Reef."
From reef health to dredging
Scorecard topics focussed upon climate change, dredging and dumping, and future water quality.
Results from the Vote Compass survey recently showed that the majority of people wanted less mining-related activity around the reef.
Three-quarters of 43,133 respondents answered "somewhat less" or "much less" to the question: "How much mining activity should be permitted in the waters around the Great Barrier Reef?"
Mr Heath said shipping through the reef and water health were important issues on the WWF scorecard.
"We look at many topics including changes on farmers reducing their fertilisers; we need to scale that up from hundreds of farmers to thousands of farmers," he said
"We need a bigger commitment from government to help more farmers clean up the water on the reef."
WWF hoped shipping through the reef would also be looked at further by all parties.
A world wonder
Mr Heath wanted voters to keep the reef in mind when heading to place their vote this weekend.
He said the reef was more than a wonder of the world, it was also home to Queensland's identity.
"The reef is one of the seven wonders of the world – 3,000 reefs, 1,000 islands, 1,500 kinds of fish, and we are so lucky to have the reef on our doorstep," he said.
"It is part of a Queenslander's identity, it is part of Australia's identity.
"The reef is a piece of infrastructure, this is beautiful infrastructure to keep."
Topics: government-and-politics, elections, great-barrier-reef, environment, qld, brisbane-4000
