BRISBANE, 23 May. Less than a week after Julie Bishop said the Reef can survive and thrive, new data shows that half the coral may have died within the past two years due to climate change.

“Julie Bishop and Malcolm Turnbull’s government has been caught telling a big fat lie about the health of the Reef. It is unconscionable that our politicians would rather lie than take action to protect our climate and one of the world’s most precious ecosystems,” 350.org Campaigns Director, Charlie Wood said.

“The facts are stark — over the past two years, warming ocean temperatures have killed up to 50% of the coral on the Reef. At this rate, there will be no Great Barrier Reef within the decade.

“When the symptoms of the fossil fuel industry’s destruction and our Government’s negligence are visible from outer space, you know things have reached a new level of wrong.

“Malcolm Turnbull’s government must stop acting like a Trump Administration light and start dealing with facts, not fiction when it comes to the biggest threat facing the planet: climate change.

“We know more coal equals more climate change equals a dead Reef. It’s a simple equation yet even when our natural heritage is being boiled alive, our Government is happy to let the profiteers of this terrible legacy keep on digging us into a dirty hole.

“This is a tragic day for the world. It is time our leaders woke up to the threat we are facing and started taking serious steps to save the Reef and combat climate change. This means immediately ruling out Adani’s mega coal mine, which would cook the climate and further wreck the Reef.”

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