The American brand, which withdrew its Phish Food flavour earlier this month and is running the Reef Scoop Tour campaign – giving out free ice cream to highlight its concerns over damage to the reef – is a supporter of the WWF’s bid to stop the Abbot Point coal port expansion and that hasn’t gone down well with Environment Minister Andrew Powell, who says it is damaging job prospects and tourism.
“Another company has signed up to the campaign of lies and deceit that’s been propagated by WWF,” Powell told a press conference on Monday. “The only people taking a scoop out of the reef are Ben and Jerry’s and Unilever.
“If you understand the facts, you’d want to be boycotting Ben and Jerry’s.”
In January the government approved the dumping of dredge spoil in the marine park and World Heritage area to enable the Abbot Point coal port expansion and it is running its own campaign to convince voters the reef is not in danger.
Unesco has so far resisted calls to list the reef as in danger, but that could change.
Image via Getty
