Almost a week after Barack Obama suggested Australia wasn't doing enough to save the Great Barrier Reef, the Abbott government has revealed its annoyance at the US president.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, in New York to chair UN Security Council terrorism talks, expressed surprise at the president's remarks.
But she stopped short of rebuking the White House, suggesting Mr Obama might not have been briefed sufficiently before his Brisbane speech last weekend.
Ms Bishop has since provided the president's office with a detailed briefing that argues the world heritage icon is not threatened by climate change or environmental degradation.
"I thought it was important that he had the facts and the details of what we are doing," she said.
Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek branded the action as an "extraordinarily petulant performance" and an insult to a close friend and ally.
While the Obama speech has angered some federal government MPs, senior ministers have been reluctant to take a big stick to the president.
Senior Queensland government MPs have not been so sanguine with some considering a formal complaint.
Ms Bishop said she personally made clear Australia's position on the reef to the US secretary of the interior only days before the Obama speech.
Speaking at the University of Queensland, the president said for Australia climate change meant longer droughts, more wildfires and threatened the "incredible natural glory" of the Great Barrier Reef.
Ms Bishop said she was keen to brief the White House so it was aware the commonwealth and state governments were taking significant steps to ensure the reef was not threatened by climate change or nutrient run-off.
She cited a decision to ban resource exploration and dredge dumping near the reef and the $180 million annually provided by the two governments to manage the reef's health.
Ms Plibersek argued the president's remarks were consistent with those of the UN World Heritage Committee.
It was "embarrassing" the government failed to accept that climate change would have a significant toll on the reef.
"The foreign minister of our nation is insulting one of our closest friends because that friend wants to talk about climate change and the effects on our natural environment," she told reporters in Brisbane.
Some scientists have taken issue with Ms Bishop's belief the reef would be conserved for generations and that it was not in danger.
