Reef conservationists to rally against NAB

Green groups will use the NAB's annual meeting in Brisbane to pressure the bank not to finance the Abbot Point coal terminal expansion.

Conservationists will gather outside the National Australia Bank's annual meeting in Brisbane to demand it not fund a coal port development in north Queensland.

Green groups are concerned about an increase in shipping through waters of the Great Barrier Reef associated with the expansion of the Abbot Point coal terminal, near Bowen.

The gathering will include members of the Australian Marine Conservation Society and Australian Youth Climate Coalition, as well as Whitsunday dive operator Beverley Fontes.

"I've got 30 years of diving experience in the local area and I've seen the coral at its very best," Ms Fontes told AAP.

"Over the last eight years, I've actually watched it decline. To me now, it's really getting urgent."

The reef was losing its ability to regenerate and the water quality was deteriorating, Ms Fontes said.

She pointed to a recent James Cook University survey that found oil spills, coral bleaching and dredging might deter people from visiting the reef.

"I have to be careful as a tourism operator - I can't get out there and say the reef looks terrible. It's still in relatively OK shape," she said.

"I know that it could be better. I've seen it better. The very fine, delicate coral are not having the opportunity to bounce back."

NAB will hold its annual meeting at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, in south Brisbane, on Thursday.


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