Exactly how will the Great Barrier Reef — and regional workers — benefit from the $3.2m handout? That remains a mystery.
The owner of China’s biggest nickel mine and a company chaired by the head of Tourism Australia are among the beneficiaries of a $3.2 million scheme to “monitor” the Great Barrier Reef during the COVID-caused tourism slump.
Like much of the government’s pandemic support spending, it’s not entirely clear what is being asked of them and 15 other tourist operators who were given funding.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s website says the money is being used to pay tourism operators to monitor the health of the reef. But there is little detail about how much monitoring they have to do and how their performance will be measured.
