Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for your support in helping to share this petition far and wide.

As of today, March 25, 2019, we have 64,000+ supporters from across the globe, and growing.

I have been in touch with Senator Larissa Waters of the Australian Greens (Queensland), who wanted me to share this with you:

Dear friend,

Thank you for signing and sharing this petition to stop the dumping of 1 million tonnes of dredge sludge onto Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

The good news is that with community pressure, the Greens have stopped the dumping of capital dredge spoil in Great Barrier Reef waters before, and with your help we can do the same for maintenance dredge spoil.

Your signature is one of literally tens of thousands from people across Australia who care about the future of our Reef, and are willing to take a stand in order to protect it.

The decision to dump this waste has been allowed through our current environmental and marine park laws that are drastically weak. These laws are constantly failing our environment and our wildlife, and until we embark on their complete and total overhaul, corporate interests can and will continue to wreak havoc on this Earth.

Now more than ever, we need to fight for a total reimagining of both our Marine Park protection and environmental protection laws, if we have any chance of protecting our environment for generations to come.

I’ve written to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) requesting that they reconsider the approval granted for the dumping of this dredge spoil. They have the power to modify conditions, and so could drastically scale back the amount of spoil to be dumped offshore, if it is “necessary to do so to protect the environment, of the living resources of the Marine Park”.  I’ve also sought a meeting with the chair of GBRMPA to press this issue, and I will raise the number of signatures on this petition with him.

I have also written to the Environment Minister to ask how much dredge spoil they plan to dump on our marine park over the coming decade, and will let you know the outcome so that we may continue to campaign together to stop this environmental destruction.

The Greens have always fought in Parliament to strengthen environmental protections. I initiated a Senate inquiry into the management of the Reef in 2014 which, along with the community campaign, eventually resulted in a historic ban on offshore dumping of capital dredge spoil in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and World Heritage Area.

We’re leading up to an election in May, so now is the time to consider what your priorities are for the future. The Greens are committed to pressuring what’s likely to be an incoming Labor government to do the right thing: stand with the community and the environment instead of corporate profits.

I’ve been sharing your petition on to every person that has contacted the office about this, and if you haven’t yet shared this petition, I urge you to do the same. Together we are powerful.

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to saving our precious reef. Know that we stand with you.

Yours sincerely,

Larissa

Larissa Waters, Queensland Greens Senator

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Further updates to follow.

Thank you again for your support! 

Best wishes,

Natalie