 This budget reflects our commitment to work closely with all Queenslanders to create jobs and strengthen our economy and protect our environment and quality of life for present and future generations. My portfolio budget for this year will provide proper protection for the State's environment. These budget measures will ensure we meet key election promises to protect the Great Barrier Reef, tackle climate change and safeguard Queensland's wildlife and environment for future generations. We all share a duty as custodians of our natural heritage to protect the Great Barrier Reef. Its sheer size, beauty and biodiversity are awesome. Recently Deputy Premier Jackie Trad and I attended the World Heritage Committee's meeting in Bond. We were very pleased about the UNESCO decision not to put the reef on the in danger list. I believe this was recognition of the series of election commitments we made to boost the protection of the Great Barrier Reef. And in this budget we have delivered on these promises. We have committed an additional $100 million over five years for reef water quality initiatives, scientific research and tools to help business transition to better environmental practices. If we are going to protect the Great Barrier Reef we need to listen to the science. We need the best and brightest to help us and that's where the Great Barrier Reef Water Science Task Force comes in. The task force is on track to deliver an interim report to the government by the end of the year. Advising on the best investment strategies for the $100 million commitment to achieve our ambitious reef water quality targets. Climate change. It threatens the Great Barrier Reef and will cause irreversible damage to ecosystems, wildlife and coastal communities faced with rising sea levels. The Great Barrier Reef is a global attraction. Climate change is a global problem. Over the next three years we will spend $15 million managing the impacts of climate change and helping coastal communities prepare for rising sea levels, storm tide and erosion. This will help deliver the government's commitment to work with councils to address climate change and coastal hazards. We're partnering with the Local Government Association to deliver the Climate Change Adaptation Fund to support at-risk councils to address current and future coastal hazards. The remaining $3 million will go towards developing and implementing a climate adaptation strategy in collaboration with industry and local government. This budget will provide $5 million to continue the Nature Assist program to secure nature refuges and provide financial support for leasehold and freehold lands of value. This commitment will expand the protected area of state and be used to incentivise private landholders to undertake conservation management on their land. Indigenous rangers do such great work across our state and in this budget we have allocated money to provide further opportunities for Indigenous Queenslanders. We have committed $7.3 million over four years to provide continued employment of 15 Indigenous rangers on Cape York and the Gulf. They will work across the protected area of state to ensure that parks are well managed and maintained. This includes protection from the threats of fire, pest and weed infestation. We are also providing $7.4 million over four years to jointly manage with traditional owners more than 2.5 million hectares of park estate on Cape York Peninsula as part of Indigenous management agreements. There are some other points in this year's budget I'd like to mention too. We will provide additional funding of $1.8 million this year to continue to support a range of wildlife management and conservation activities. These include regulating the use and trading of native plants and animals, responding to situations where wildlife present a risk to the public, management of sick, injured and orphaned animals and the protection of koalas. And over four years we are providing $12.4 million to support the continuation of a joint management program with traditional owners on North Stradbroke Island. This program employs rangers and a joint management coordinator to deliver on commitments made in the Indigenous management agreement. I'm very passionate about my portfolio and I'm excited about the opportunities ahead of us to ensure that the necessary safeguards are in place to protect our state's environment and to make a positive mark on Queensland for generations to come.