The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Dredge Synthesis Panel Report confirms that dredging has damaging impacts and the full extent of the long-term impacts is unknown.
“ The report confirms there are still significant knowledge gaps and uncertainty about the impacts of dredging in the Great Barrier Reef ,” said Senator Larissa Waters, Australian Greens environment spokesperson .
“ Yet dredging is going on in the Reef right now, with much more proposed or approved to go ahead in the future.
“While significant uncertainty remains, the precautionary principle means that we should give the Reef the benefit of the doubt and not continue with mass dredging until we understand its long term impacts.
“The precautionary principle, that the absence of scientific certainty should not be a barrier to environmental protection, is already written into our national environment laws, but it is being ignored, ” Waters concluded.