IT will be interesting to see if there is much mention about the proposed huge Adani-Carmichael coal mine and its impact on the Great Barrier Reef in the coming election campaign.
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The future of coal and of the reef are vital issues. It should be one or the other, but there is no easy solution, so maybe we should not expect it to be the big election issue it should be.
The simple fact is that, according to the World Bank, Australia (like the rest of the world) can expect big economic problems in the year ahead and coal is important to Australia's economy.
The proposed mine is part of a huge coal deposit about 200km inland from Mackay, and Mackay is not far from the middle of the Great Barrier Reef, which is facing disastrous degradation.
The plan is to ship the coal from a port 'somewhere along the Great Barrier Reef', and this must ring alarm bells for all Australians, particularly those who recognise the world importance of the reef, one of the world's greatest natural masterpieces.
And all this at a time when we are expected to play our part in reducing the carbon gases that would be produced if that coal was sold to some foreign country.
There is some logic to the argument that Australian coal is top grade and if countries, such as India, were denied our product for their electricity generators, they would revert to their local coal, which is far less efficient and more damaging to the environment.
But even that does not overcome the potential problems of shipping the product through the middle of the Great Barrier Reef.
On one hand we need a boost to our national economy and on the other the preservation of one of the world's great treasures, the Great Barrier Reef, which should be a national responsibility accepted by all Australians.
No politician would relish the idea of having to announce a decision; but, it seems, that decision has already been made.
Never heard of it being decided? Well, that was because it was deliberately announced a few hours before Christmas Day when our thoughts were elsewhere.
But the decision was announced that the present government had approved the proposal without saying just where that coal terminal would be located; and now we are being told that the reef is suffering severe bleaching and scientists are concerned about its future.
So, the question remains, what is more important: money in our hands soon or the future for all future generations of that international treasure, the Great Barrier Reef?
As one who delighted at the magical world of coral reefs as a young man, only to see huge areas of these reefs now no more than isolated stands of dead coral, your old scribe favours saving the reef, but that would require lots more than just deciding against the creation of a new coal mine.
Australia needs to take a much more serious stand against global warming generally and the huge amounts of carbon sinking into our oceans making them much more acidic and killing coral throughout the world.
What will future generations around the world say about our generation? Will they tell stories about the grandeur of our Great Barrier Reef that once existed or of the goodies our generations were able to buy because we decided money was more important than saving the world heritage Great Barrier Reef?
