<iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-K3L4M3" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden">

Flat White

The reef is fine but academic freedom remains in peril

5 December 2020

4:14 PM

5 December 2020

4:14 PM

The first images I saw of the Great Barrier Reef were in 1980s television news reports warning that the crown-of-thorns starfish was destroying it.

Divers were spearing them in what looked like a futile effort to ward off the coral-eating plague.

I fully expected the reef to be gone before I grew up and had a chance to see it for myself.

For the current generation of Queenslanders, fear of the reef’s demise has defined our attitude to it.

This has only escalated amid the global warming scare.

Remember President Obama lecturing us when he was here for APEC in 2014?

“The incredible natural glory of the Great...

Already a subscriber? Log in

Subscribe for just $2 a week

Try a month of The Spectator Australia absolutely free and without commitment. Not only that but – if you choose to continue – you’ll pay just $2 a week for your first year.

  • Unlimited access to spectator.com.au and app
  • The weekly edition on the Spectator Australia app
  • Spectator podcasts and newsletters
  • Full access to spectator.co.uk
Or

Unlock this article

REGISTER


Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator Australia readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Close