He certainly wasn’t giving out high-fives on this one.
Waleed Aly hijacked The Project this evening because — and happily this seems to be becoming somewhat of a regular occurrence — there was something he needed to talk about.
With his feet firmly planted on his invisible soapbox, Aly ripped into the government and its Environment Minister Greg Hunt for their continued failure to protect the Great Barrier Reef; the largest in the world.
This government? No! Climate change is a conspiracy for world domination, says Tony Abbott’s advisor.
Last week, the United Nations conservation agency UNESCO recommended that the reef NOT be placed on the World Heritage “in danger” list.
And while this is good news for the million-dollar Queensland Tourism industry, many have expressed their concern that we aren’t taking its long-term health seriously enough.
“Don’t worry about ‘Finding Nemo’, soon we won’t have to look very hard,” Aly warned. “He’ll be floating on top of the sea.”
“Despite what the UN says, the reef is in danger and scientists say it will be dead by the end of this century. And that’s because we’ve mined next to it, we’ve thrown dredge on it, we’ve let sediment run into it, we’ve overfished it and we’ve pumped it full of carbon dioxide.”
Go us.
“Oh, and guess what? We’ve killed half it in thirty years. And now the side effects of climate change, like coral bleaching, threaten to finish the job.”
For those still not convinced that WE DON’T GOT THIS, Aly then reminded his audience that Australia was labelled the second worst out of nearly 60 countries when it came to tackling climate change. Just above Saudi Arabia, you know, the world’s largest oil exporter.
“The UN lists the pollution of marine waters, non-renewable energy facilities and marine transport infrastructure as some of the major things affecting the Reef in 2015. And all those things are set to increase,” he said.
“Because what Old Gregg [props for the Mighty Boosh reference] isn’t talking about is the plan that he approved last July to create one of the biggest coal mines on the planet right next to the reef.”
The mine he is referring to is just one of NINE mega-mines planned for the Galilee Basin, which would see billions of tonnes of coal dug up and transported across the Great Barrier Reef on giant carriers and ships.
So what just what does Aly suggest we should do? Why, what we do in any time of crisis, of course. Look to our great leaders and ask: “What would Tony do?”
“I never thought I would say this but… we need to stop the boats,” Aly concluded.
Lucky he didn’t ask “What would Old Gregg do?” or we’d all be drinking Bailey’s from a shoe right now.
Watch the whole segment here:
More from Waleed Aly:
Waleed Aly owns the debate over Adam Goodes’ war cry.
Waleed Aly grills Malcolm Turnbull over domestic violence funding.
The one where Waleed Aly slams Australia’s action on climate change.
Top Comments
I think this is an important topic and should be discussed in a rational manner, which is why I question the need for misleading exaggerations and hyperbole like this.
The coal mines are actually 200 kilometres inland from the coast, they are not being built on the Great Barrier Reef or even "right next to it" as was said.
The dredging is being done in the Marine Park, not the Great Barrier Reef. The Marine Park is bigger than Victoria and Tasmania combined I should add.
Half of the GBR has not died in the last thirty years.
I think there are many legitimate issues to discuss about this development and I do have some reservations and concerns, however this emotive (did you really have to refer to a dead Nemo to make your point?) is inaccurate rubbish.
Is it possible for people in the media to use facts and not aim just for a headline.
There you go with pesky facts again. That just gets in the way of outrage.
'The coal mines are actually 200km inland from the coast.'
Not all of them - have you checked the proposed expansions? There are several. Start with Abbott point.
Yes this is a very important topic. I'm not sure why anyone would support digging more coal out of the ground in the first place.
Abbot Point is a port, not a coal mine.
The 9 coal mines mentioned in this article are in the Galilee Basin hundreds of kilometres inland.
What about the dredging and dumping expansion at Abbott point (in particular)?
Not concerned about the damage there? I am.
Because Waleed knows better than anyone on anything and doesn't have a politically biased agenda or anything.
Same thing could be said about Andrew Bolt.
Agreed. And he is rightly criticised for it so it goes both ways. Bolt and Aly are the Yin/Yang of media headline politics.
They are both doing the same thing for their respective teams.
Correct.
Waleed Aly has a Walkley award; Bolt ... not so much.