Environmental groups say a reported federal government rescue package for the Great Barrier Reef must be met with a commitment to tackle climate change.
Next month's federal budget is expected to include $400 million to tackle runoff from farming, the destructive crown-of-thorns starfish, and fund new research on coral bleaching.
While the prospect of increased funding has been welcomed, environmentalists say it means little without the government also altering its stance on issues such as Adani's planned new coal mine in Queensland.
"Protecting the reef for the future means stopping the damage caused through the burning of coal, oil and gas and fixing water quality with a serious investment package," Australian Marine Conservation Society reef campaign director Imogen Zethoven said.
"Unless the federal government shows leadership on climate change, we will need to see yet another reef rescue package in another three years."
WWF Australia said they would like to see the funding go towards threats such as farm pollution, to give the reef a chance to recover from bleaching event.
A study published earlier this month in British scientific journal Nature claimed on average 30 per cent of the corals in the reef had died off in a nine-month period between March and November 2016.
Queensland's Minister for Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Leeanne Enoch, said a bipartisan approach was needed to save the reef.
"The federal government needs to work collaboratively with the Queensland government on reef initiatives to ensure our combined efforts are delivering maximum benefit for the reef," Ms Enoch said.
"The key challenge facing the reef is climate change."
