array:1 [
  0 => {#473
    +"n_tit": "Australian govt announces $703 mn funding for Great Barrier Reef"
    +"n_date": "2022-01-28 08:45:43.403"
    +"n_desc": """
      <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Canberra, Jan 28 (IANS):</strong> The Australian government on Friday announced an additional investment of 1 billion Australian dollars ($703 million) in saving the iconic Great Barrier Reef.</p>\r\n
      <p style="text-align: justify;">Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the funding over the next nine years is aimed at improving water quality, reef management and research.</p>\r\n
      <p style="text-align: justify;">The government said the package, which increases the funding committed to the Reef 2050 Plan to more than 3 billion AUD ($2.1 billion), will support 64,000 jobs and the economic future of tourism operators.</p>\r\n
      <p style="text-align: justify;">The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef and one of Australia's biggest tourism attractions.</p>\r\n
      <p style="text-align: justify;">It is facing threats from climate change, with mass coral bleaching events in recent years.</p>\r\n
      <p style="text-align: justify;">More than half the new funding announced on Friday -- 579.9 million AUD (408 million U.S. dollars) -- will be planned to be spent on improving water quality in the area through remediating erosion.</p>\r\n
      <p style="text-align: justify;">The announcement came weeks after Anthony Albanese, leader of the opposition Labor Party, said they would invest 163 million AUD ($114 million) to conserve the Great Barrier Reef and support the tens of thousands of jobs that depend on it if victorious at the 2022 election.</p>\r\n
      <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p>
      """
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