100s Years Of Collective Experience Leaving GBR Park Management - Sick Of Abbott, Coal Development
Recently departed directors of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) are warning budget cuts, the loss of key staff, and a lack of leadership is undermining the agency's ability to protect Australia's greatest natural wonder.
In exclusive interviews with the ABC, three former senior directors have explained their reasons for accepting voluntary redundancies in the wake of an internal restructure and a $2.8 million Federal Government cut to GBRMPA's budget. In total, five directors and a dozen other staff have decided to take a package and leave, in what some are calling the biggest loss of expertise in the authority's history.
The authority's former climate change director, Paul Marshall, is one of those who have taken a redundancy, saying budget cuts put an end to the agency’s climate change action program, and along with it his future with the authority.
"I think it's a huge hit, and it's a hit at a time when we need more expertise and more capacity to deal with these issues," said Dr Marshall, a 14-year veteran of GBRMPA. "Sometimes we had eight to 10 people working on climate change. Now you can't point to one who is entirely focused on climate change."
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-06/great-barrier-reef-marine-park-authority-in-turmoil/5792734