Australian PM visits Great Barrier Reef
Updated
Australia's prime minister, Kevin Rudd, has used a visit to the Great Barrier Reef off the north-east coast to promote his government's plans for a carbon emissions trading scheme.
Kevin Rudd and the climate change minister, Penny Wong, have been in far north Queensland to inspect coral that's recovering from a bleaching event around the Low Isles, just off the coast near the tourist town of Port Douglas.
Marine scientists says the bleaching caused by rising sea temperatures is only a relatively recent phenomenon and its frequency and intensity is increasing.
Mr Rudd says his government is delivering on a $US190 million election commitment to improve the quality of water entering the reef, which he says will combine with the recently announced carbon pollution reduction scheme.
"This represents a clear pathway forward for the nation, a clear pathway forward for those concerned about the preservation of this great Australian asset," he said.
