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Queenslanders will not be fooled by the desperate spin campaign launched by the Queensland Resources Council today to downplay the damage the big mining companies are inflicting on the Great Barrier Reef, say the Australian Greens.

“This is desperate PR spin from the Queensland Resources Council that shows community opposition to big mining companies trashing the reef is being heard,” Senator Larissa Waters, Australian Greens environment spokesperson, said.

“We have the UNESCO World Heritage Committee warning that coastal development is threatening the Great Barrier Reef and recommending we press pause on reef development.

“It couldn’t be clearer that we need to stop letting the big mining companies treat this World Heritage Area as a shipping superhighway and a dumping ground for dredge spoil.

“Yet the Queensland Resources Council is telling us we’ve got nothing to worry about.

“I know who I’m going to listen to when it comes to the health of the Great Barrier Reef – the experts, not the big mining company PR merchants.

“We do agree with the Queensland Resources Council that climate change, extreme weather events and diminished water quality are threatening the Great Barrier Reef.

“It’s farcical that the Queensland Resources Council apparently doesn’t see that these threats are being driven by the big mining companies.

“The coal exported on massive ships through our Great Barrier Reef will intensify climate change and in turn extreme weather events.

“And the dredge spoil dumped into this World Heritage Area by the big mining companies directly impacts on the reef’s water quality, threatening the fishing industry.

“Queenslanders won’t be fooled by the big mining companies’ desperate attempt to disguise the damage they’re doing to the Great Barrier Reef and the 54 000 jobs that rely on its health,” Senator Waters said.

Press Release, July 25, 2013