Portfolio — 25 July 2026

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee adopted a decision recognising Australia's collaboration and ongoing protection efforts for the Great Barrier Reef, a result the Minister for the Environment and Water, Mr Watt, framed as international validation of a multi-year domestic program [TA-260724-climat-8895bc770370]. The decision acknowledges Australia's commitment to protecting the Reef's Outstanding Universal Value through resilience-based management spanning climate change action, water quality, land-clearing controls, crown-of-thorns starfish programs, and sustainable fisheries [TA-260724-climat-8895bc770370].

Mr Watt cited more than $5.3 billion invested since 2014 by the Australian and Queensland governments in reef protection and conservation, positioning the decision as a return on sustained joint investment. Australia has committed to a progress report to UNESCO in 2028 and a State of Conservation report in 2029, establishing a two-stage accountability timeline that will carry through to the next parliamentary term.

Separately, Mr Watt noted that the Statement of Outstanding Universal Value for the Murujuga Cultural Landscape is before the World Heritage Committee, foregrounding First Nations cultural heritage as a concurrent strand of Australia's engagement with the UNESCO process [TA-260724-climat-8895bc770370]. The Murujuga reference signals that the government's World Heritage engagement extends beyond the Reef and into heritage recognition for Indigenous sites, widening the portfolio footprint of this Committee session.