Officials told to keep public in the dark on Great Barrier Reef splurge

Government officials were instructed to avoid revealing the $10 million price tag on a taxpayer-funded Great Barrier Reef public relations campaign, while researchers receiving $100 million to restore the natural wonder were also told to keep the deal quiet.

The federal government will spend $10 million on a
 communications campaign focused on the Great Barrier Reef,
 which has suffered devastating coral bleaching.

The back-room discussions, contained in documents tabled in the Senate, reveal the extent to which officials either sought to limit public knowledge surrounding a controversial $444 million grant to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, or themselves grappled with an information vacuum following the surprise decision.

The documents also detail an exclusive weekend for corporate heavy hitters hosted by the foundation at a luxury Hamilton Island resort, where participants enjoyed bonfires on the beach and snorkelling trips.

Read the story by Nicole Hasham from The Age - “Officials told to keep public in the dark on Great Barrier Reef splurge.”

‘Serious questions' over whether Australia's emissions cuts are real

Methods used to pledge at least $1.15 billion in taxpayer-funded emissions cuts are under a cloud as officials probe whether the environmental benefits credited to the Coalition government’s flagship climate policy are genuine.

Critics say promised cuts to carbon emissions under the
federal government's central climate policy may not be genuine.

A former government official has told Fairfax Media that the scheme, the emissions reduction fund, has rightly focused on attracting participants to carbon-reducing projects such as revegetation, rather than assessing if the projects accurately estimated how much carbon was kept out of the atmosphere.

But critics say a lack of probity in the $2.55 billion Abbott-era policy mean it is impossible to know how much carbon reduction has actually occurred, casting doubt on the integrity of Australia’s contribution to international climate action.

Read Nicole Hasham’s story from The Age - “‘Serious questions' over whether Australia's emissions cuts are real.”