CANBERRA, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Australian government's new envoy for the Great Barrier Reef has launched a war against single-use plastics.
Warren Entsch, a Member of Parliament (MP) for the governing Liberal-National Party (LNP) Coalition, was named the special envoy for the Great Barrier Reef - the world's largest coral reef - by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sunday.
He told the Guardian Australia on Tuesday that "we need to manage (the reef) and manage it well and we're the best reef managers in the world."
Inspired by a white picket fence at a sports ground in northern Queensland made entirely from recycled plastic, Entsch asked the prime minister for a role in reducing plastic waste on May 20, an idea he said Morrison "loved."
"I'm committed in my last term in government to develop a national policy on plastics, micro and nano plastics, to remove them from our beaches," Entsch said.
"I want to see single-use (plastics) out, but it's much broader than that, and I'll defer to experts on how we do it."
He said the widespread coral bleaching events that have affected the Great Barrier Reef in recent years were caused by warm currents from the northern hemisphere that could not be stopped.
"It's the same for plastics - the bulk of it on our seas comes down from our northern neighbors. If we can create world's best practice and get them to clean up their own backyard then we will reduce the volumes that come down to us," Entsch said.
Contrary to his optimism, the Australian Institute of Marine Science reported in 2017/18 that coral in the reef was in a steep decline that "has not been observed in the historical record."
