Environmentalists are condemning the decision by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to approve the dumping of more than one million tons of dredge spoil near the reef, which is already stressed by bleaching and runoff from the Queensland floods.

"The last thing the reef needs is more sludge dumped on it, after being slammed by the floods recently," said Greens senator Larissa Waters, "One million ton of dumping dredged sludge into world heritage waters treats our reef like a rubbish tip."

The federal government had banned the disposal of dredge spoil near the reef in 2015.  But that ban only applies to capital dredging, not to sediment from shipping lanes.  The GBRMPA's decision takes advantage of this loophole to permit the dumping, not that it matters to the reef:  Sludge is sludge.

"Government policy needs to change to ban all offshore dumping, so GBRMPA is not allowed to permit the reef's waters to be used as a cheaper alternative to treating the sludge and disposing of it safely onshore," said Ms. Waters.