Bad report cards are never pleasant for parents, least of all when your child is one of the seven wonders of the natural world.
The latest government report on the condition of Queensland's Great Barrier Reef paints an unflattering picture of sluggish progress towards water quality targets.
It also vindicates UNESCO's concerns about the reef's plight, according to the Queensland government.
"If one of my kids came home with a report card like this, I'd be a bit disappointed," Environment Minister Steven Miles said on Monday.
The condition of inshore areas is poor and the adoption of voluntary best-management practices within agriculture sectors is a mixed bag - with the grain industry exceeding targets, but sugar cane farmers lagging behind.
Dr Miles insisted the government offered various incentives to offset the measures, which are often expensive.
The number of graziers participating in best-management practices had doubled in the past six months, Agforce General President Grant Maudsley said.
The chairman of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Russell Reichelt, said farmers should be applauded for pulling back on the use of fertilisers.
"I genuinely think they are making a difference," he said.
Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt picked out some positives, including signs of recovery in inshore seagrass in some areas.
"It takes time for improvements in land management to translate into measurable outcomes in marine condition," he said.
Dr Miles pointed the finger at the former Newman government's ineffective reef policies, saying all progress toward targets stalled in 2013-14.
Deputy Opposition Leader John-Paul Langbroek defended the LNP's record, saying it had done more than any previous government.
"We commenced the work and it's now important for everyone to work together," Mr Langbroek said.
The Queensland government is spending $100 million over five years on reaching the targets.
World Wildlife Fund spokesman Sean Hoobin said a figure as high as $2 billion would deliver meaningful progress.
Governments also needed to cease pushing ahead with dredging projects, Greenpeace campaigner Shani Tager said.
"When you're in a hole, you stop digging," she said.
The reef needed more time to recover from major episodic events such as floods, chairman of the independent science panel for the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan, Roger Shaw, said.
In June, UNESCO decided not to place the Reef on its "in danger" list, sparing the state and federal governments considerable embarrassment.
It wants Australia to provide an update on its Reef 2050 plan to the World Heritage Centre by December 2016.
