The Hon Melissa Price, Assistant Minister for the Environment, released details of the pledge on June 7, 2018. The following information is from the media release.

The Australian Government is continuing to support and work in partnership with Queensland sugarcane farmers to use fertiliser more efficiently, boosting their profitability and improving the quality of water flowing into the Great Barrier Reef. $3.28 million will be provided to 24 sugarcane farmers in the Wet Tropics and Burdekin regions to improve fertiliser management practices and complete accreditation under the sugar industry’s Smartcane Best Management Practice program.

This funding is in addition to the more than $500 million recently announced by the Government – the largest ever single investment to protect the Reef. The funding announcement brings the total amount provided to sugarcane farmers under three rounds of the Reef Trust Repeated Tenders project to $12.1 million. Due to the high level of interest from farmers, all funding under this project has now been allocated.

Assistant Minister for the Environment, Melissa Price, said the program would achieve the dual benefit of protecting one of Australia’s most important natural treasures and assisting the agricultural industry to achieve greater efficiencies.

“Excess nitrogen run-off from agricultural land in the Reef catchments is one of the biggest threats to the health of the Reef and is linked to outbreaks of the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish,” Assistant Minister Price said. “Sugarcane growers across the Great Barrier Reef coastline have embraced new technologies and methods to ensure the environment is protected for generations to come. This investment is a win-win because it improves the quality of water entering the Reef, while also helping sugarcane farmers reduce their costs.”

The third round of the tenders will result in approximately 500 tonnes less fertiliser being applied to sugarcane farms and 100 tonnes less nitrogen reaching the Great Barrier Reef. In total, the three rounds of tenders will reduce nitrogen pollution to the Great Barrier Reef by approximately 385 tonnes. Project delivery partners NQ Dry Tropics (Burdekin region) and Terrain NRM (Wet Tropics region) will continue to support the project and manage grant contracts with sugarcane growers.

The Government looks forward to working with farmers and land managers to implement further water quality improvement projects as part of its recently announced partnership with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

For more information on the Reef Trust Repeated Tenders visit the website here.