New ad campaign wants voter focus on Great Barrier Reef for July elections

A new advertising campaign aims to put the Great Barrier Reef front and centre when Australians hit the polls in July.

Fight for the Reef, an ongoing campaign that seeks to curb industrial port expansion and boost renewable energy investment, launched the campaign on Monday.

The 30-second clip shows tourism operator Nicole Graham sailing across waters at Airlie Beach with her young children.

"We can fix these problems and the reef will recover - but time is short," she says.

The group hope the campaign will stick in voters' minds on July 2 when Australians hit the polls.

"Queensland seats have become critical this election and every voting Queenslander can make a difference," Australian Marine Conservation Society spokeswoman Imogen Zethoven said.

"A vote to protect the reef is a vote to protect jobs and the growth of the economy."

So far this election campaign, Labor has pledged $377 million in new funding for better management and research of the Great Barrier Reef.

But Environment Minister Greg Hunt has claimed they'd have to cut $123 million from an existing reef program as part of the pledge and that much of the promised funding would be squandered on bureaucracy.