Tourism operators helping showcase the Great Barrier Reef will have another year of fees and charges waived in this month’s federal budget, it can be revealed.
Environment Minister Sussan Ley will on Wednesday announce that $12 million will go to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority so businesses don’t have to pay fees until June 30, 2023.
The government has been supplementing the Reef Authority’s budget since April 2020 so tourism operators with permits to use the marine park have not been be slugged while struggling through the pandemic.
“We know Reef communities have been doing it tough, and while it is great to see tourists coming back to visit the region, we also know that it will take some time for businesses to fully recover,” Ms Ley said.
“It is critical that we continue to support this important industry to get back on its feet following two years of very challenging economic conditions.”
Special Envoy for the Great Barrier Reef and Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch said the tourism industry was crucial to Far North Queensland’s economy.
“Under xjmtzywnormal circumstances, the Great Barrier Reef supports 64,000 jobs and generates some $6.4 billion each year through sustainably managed industries, mostly through the tourism industry,” Mr Entsch said.
“The Reef tourism industry helps showcase the wonders of this World Heritage Area to people from all over the world, and works with the Reef Authority to protect popular and ecologically-important Reef sites.”
The latest investment comes after the Prime Minister announced a $1 billion Reef Protection Package in January for climate adaptation technology and investments in water quality programs to be spent over nine years.
There are major concerns that climate change is driving a signficant increase in coral bleaching, which happens when the sea surface temperate stays too hot for too long.
Dawson MP George Christensen said the $12 million would help businesses focus on recovering from the pandemic.
In another positive for tourism, the government on Tuesday confirmed it would not renew a ban on international cruise ships, which has been in place for two years due to Covid-19.
The ban is set to expire on April 17 and Health Minister Greg Hunt said he would not be extending it.
