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To the first major political interview of the day, and federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has fronted Seven’s breakfast show Sunrise.

The Labor frontbencher was joined by former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce.

The pair were asked about reports that Plibersek intends to block a proposed coal mine by billionaire Clive Palmer over concerns the project is likely to have “unacceptable impacts” on the Great Barrier Reef.

As regular readers of this blog will know, new coal and gas projects have been in the spotlight recently, given the Albanese government has been locked in negotiations with the Greens and teal independents over its signature climate legislation.

Here’s what Plibersek had to say about the matter:

Well, we are still in the 10-day consultation before the decision is finalised, so I have to be careful what I say. The reason I am proposing to block this, is that [the mine] is less than 10km from the Great Barrier Reef and has significant impact [on] water [and] the land as well. I’m not going to say too much about it because the decision is open for a consultation. And I want to give everybody their say before I say anything further on it … [but] the Great Barrier Reef, in a good year, before COVID, it is about $6.4 billion worth of tourism and supports 54,000 jobs.

And here was Joyce’s stance:

That is one opinion. I respect the process. [But] let’s look at our deficits. They might be harsh because of the exports of coal and gas, which are really helping a nation out, so we have to be really careful of saying the word no. We have to understand the reality we are in and we want to become a strong as possible and as quickly as possible [because of what’s happening in Ukraine and around Taiwan] and that means we have to make money. We have to become a bit harder and tougher in our mindset.

The mining industry makes multiple times [the reef’s $6.4b annually]. Well in excess of $100 billion [in] coal alone. So compare the two. Destroy the Great Barrier Reef, nobody wants to do that. But if we keep stopping projects, we have to understand what we’re doing.