Queensland Parliament to introduce new laws to protect the Great Barrier Reef

MELBOURNE: The Queensland Parliament will introduce a bill next week to protect the Great Barrier Reef in Australia which has been disappearing in the past 30 years because of climate change and coastal development.

UNESCO World Heritage Committee has been threatening to list the reef as 'being in danger' and has also expressed concern over port development inside the world Heritage site.

According to an ABC report, a draft decision will be handed down on Friday.

State Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said a bill will be introduced during the next sitting week of Parliament.

On the query if it would limit port expansion to existing ports, Palaszczuk said there would be good news.

"We've got some final consultation to happen but I'm quite sure there will be good news for Queensland," she said.

"We want to get to a solution on those port developments as quickly as possible. My government is very serious about addressing that particular issue," she said.

The report also said that it was expected to give a two year repreive from the listing despite the reef facing serious threat.

They include coastal development, agricultural run-off and climate change which has resulted in 50 per cent of the reef's coral cover disappearing in the past 30 years.

The Great Barrier reef is the world's largest coral reef system.