Not only do the Aborigines now own the land, but now the British are telling us when and how we can use it.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,20460935-3102,00.html
QUEENSLAND'S tourism industry will fight an influential British think-tank that wants the Great Barrier Reef virtually closed.
The Centre for Future Studies says visitors may have to win the right to visit the Reef by a lottery system by 2020.
The same group – which claims Australians are not looking after the Reef for the long-term – also wants a host of the world's most popular destinations declared almost off-limits. The entire Greek capital of Athens and Italy's Amalfi coast are among those it says should be far more exclusive.
But the suggestion, contained in a report paid for by a British insurance company, has infuriated the local tourism industry and been outright rejected by Australian scientists and the Federal Government.
About 1.8 million people a year travel to the Reef, generating $5 billion and keeping about 800 companies in business.
And local experts say the ecosystem which comprises the world's largest living organism is in good shape.
But CFS director Frank Shaw – a man whose biography boasts of him owning a "bolt hole" in a Canary Islands tax haven – claims "economic goals" mean other problems are being overlooked.
"There is a conflict between environmental concerns and commercial interests," Dr Shaw said. "Rising sea water temperatures are already damaging the Great Barrier Reef."
His group's report also names Nepal's Kathmandu; the Florida Everglades, the Taj coral reed in the Maldives and Croatia's Dalmatian coast as places that should limit their tourism numbers.
Tourists could be asked to enter a holiday lottery in which they could win or earn the right to holiday in a particular place.
But coral reef expert Terry Hughes, who directs the biggest coral reef institute in the world at Townsville's James Cook University, said the Great Barrier Reef was a big place and the tourism industry had little impact.
"I don't believe there is a conflict between environmental concerns and commercial interests," Professor Hughes said.
He said rising sea levels were unlikely to impact on the Reef.
"It's already underwater and a few more centimetres, or even half-a-metre over the next few decades is not going to have a huge impact," he said.
Federal Tourism Minister Fran Bailey said tourism operators were ferocious defenders of the Reef's pristine environment.
"They rely on the health of the Reef and so have become intimately involved in protecting that environment," she said.
The idea of having to compete for a chance to see one of the great natural wonders of the world – or not see it at all – outraged German tourist Susanne Heiduczek.
Ms Heiduczek and her boyfriend Martin, both medical students, said experiencing the Reef was one of the best ways to make people appreciate it.
"If people can't see the Reef, what will prompt them to fight for its protection?" she said.
Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind said yesterday that tourism operators constantly monitored changes on the Reef in collaboration with groups such as the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,20460935-3102,00.html
QUEENSLAND'S tourism industry will fight an influential British think-tank that wants the Great Barrier Reef virtually closed.
The Centre for Future Studies says visitors may have to win the right to visit the Reef by a lottery system by 2020.
The same group – which claims Australians are not looking after the Reef for the long-term – also wants a host of the world's most popular destinations declared almost off-limits. The entire Greek capital of Athens and Italy's Amalfi coast are among those it says should be far more exclusive.
But the suggestion, contained in a report paid for by a British insurance company, has infuriated the local tourism industry and been outright rejected by Australian scientists and the Federal Government.
About 1.8 million people a year travel to the Reef, generating $5 billion and keeping about 800 companies in business.
And local experts say the ecosystem which comprises the world's largest living organism is in good shape.
But CFS director Frank Shaw – a man whose biography boasts of him owning a "bolt hole" in a Canary Islands tax haven – claims "economic goals" mean other problems are being overlooked.
"There is a conflict between environmental concerns and commercial interests," Dr Shaw said. "Rising sea water temperatures are already damaging the Great Barrier Reef."
His group's report also names Nepal's Kathmandu; the Florida Everglades, the Taj coral reed in the Maldives and Croatia's Dalmatian coast as places that should limit their tourism numbers.
Tourists could be asked to enter a holiday lottery in which they could win or earn the right to holiday in a particular place.
But coral reef expert Terry Hughes, who directs the biggest coral reef institute in the world at Townsville's James Cook University, said the Great Barrier Reef was a big place and the tourism industry had little impact.
"I don't believe there is a conflict between environmental concerns and commercial interests," Professor Hughes said.
He said rising sea levels were unlikely to impact on the Reef.
"It's already underwater and a few more centimetres, or even half-a-metre over the next few decades is not going to have a huge impact," he said.
Federal Tourism Minister Fran Bailey said tourism operators were ferocious defenders of the Reef's pristine environment.
"They rely on the health of the Reef and so have become intimately involved in protecting that environment," she said.
The idea of having to compete for a chance to see one of the great natural wonders of the world – or not see it at all – outraged German tourist Susanne Heiduczek.
Ms Heiduczek and her boyfriend Martin, both medical students, said experiencing the Reef was one of the best ways to make people appreciate it.
"If people can't see the Reef, what will prompt them to fight for its protection?" she said.
Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind said yesterday that tourism operators constantly monitored changes on the Reef in collaboration with groups such as the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
