Foxy,

The code was engineered to counter the free speech guarantee in the employment charter. i.e. you can say what you want as long as everyone else agrees. That's not free speech.

This is the real story.

"In 2019, the Australian Institute of Marine Science issued its annual long-term monitoring report on the state of the Great Barrier Reef, entitled Mixed Bill of Health for the Reef, reflecting the fact that while some parts of the reef were still in very poor condition in the aftermath of the 2016 and 2017 mass bleaching events, some showed good signs of recovery and others – such as many of the southern reefs – remained in excellent condition.

Predictably, this report was translated by many commentators into two diametrically opposed and equally false messages: one, that the reef was near death; and the other, that the reef was absolutely fine, and as good as it had ever been. These extreme views were typically bolstered by anecdotes of personal visits to specific parts of the reef, confirming the polar opposite interpretations, and the exhortation to “see for yourself”.

But for an ecosystem as huge and majestic as the GBR – the whole system includes over 3000 individual reefs along 2300km of Queensland’s coastline – visiting a single reef can never give a complete picture. That is why every year since 1985, AIMS scientists visit reefs across the length and breadth of the GBR, conducting detailed surveys of coral health and fish abundance. Every year we spend more than 200 days at sea with our two state-of-the-art ocean-going research vessels, collecting hundreds of thousands of observations, and adding to our store of literally millions of images, to provide the most complete and enduring monitoring record of any major reef system in the world. As a result, our annual long-term monitoring program reports (and the detailed explanatory analysis they contain) are the definitive source of information on the state of health of the GBR."

Watch this !

https://www.facebook.com/stuireland/videos/10159233990653864

It looks as though Ridd was 100% correct:

"The Great Barrier Reef is showing signs of recovery with some of the best coral coverage recorded in years, according to a survey of the natural wonder conducted by the commonwealth’s chief independent marine science agency.

The Australian Institute of Marine Science assessment – which found “minimal impact” from last year’s coral bleaching and increases in hard coral across 85 per cent of the reefs surveyed year on year – comes as UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee meets this week to consider whether the site should be formally declared “in danger”.

The results of the AIMS annual monitoring program, which has been monitoring the condition of the reef since 1985, will be used by Environment Minister Sussan Ley in her final push to lobby committee members against ratifying the draft ruling on Friday."