An incredulous state minister who doesn’t take too kindly to your type around here is urging all Australians to boycott Ben and Jerry’s for its endorsement of the WWF’s Save The Reef campaign, something he has labelled “lies and deceit” and “propaganda”.
The ice cream brand as synonymous with activism as it is with bizarre flavour combinations this month withdrew its popular Phish Food flavour in protest of the state and federal government’s controversial decision to allow the dumping of up to three million cubic metres of dredge spoil within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, a decision with undetermined environmental ramifications that could eventually spell disaster for the world’s largest coral reef system. And why would you even fuck with that?
But Environment Minister Andrew Powell says the real villain here is ice cream.
“Ben & Jerry’s believes that dredging and dumping in world heritage waters surrounding the marine park area will be detrimental to the reef ecology,” said the company’s Australian brand manager, Kalli Swaik. “It threatens the health of one of Australia’s most iconic treasures.”
“Another company has signed up to the campaign of lies and deceit that’s been propagated by WWF,” he said. “The only people taking a scoop out of the reef is Ben and Jerry’s and Unilever…If you understand the facts, you’d want to be boycotting Ben and Jerry’s.”
Ben and Jerry’s begs to differ.
“Ben & Jerry’s believes that dredging and dumping in world heritage waters surrounding the marine park area will be detrimental to the reef ecology,” said the company’s Australian brand manager, Kalli Swaik. “It threatens the health of one of Australia’s most iconic treasures.”
The real answer is probably somewhere in between. Though if there was even a 1% chance dredge spoil dumping would impact the longevity of the most hypnotic natural wonder in the world, the only feasible reason to risk it would be “renewable cancer cure” and not “construct a massive coal port”.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) meets to evaluate the site’s ecological stability in June.
