Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Last night's budget was an environmental disappointment. The Treasurer's speech focused little on the environment because, frankly, there is little for the government to boast about in this budget. Even the implementation of the promised Environment Protection Australia body lacks fanfare, as did the boost to funding for our iconic national parks. Great hopes were held for a government committed to achieving a long list of nature and environmental promises: protecting 30 per cent of land and sea, achieving a nature-positive Australia and preventing any new extinctions by 2030, to name just a few. However, the money to support the achievement of these goals was glaringly absent.

The State of the environment report was a dire warning. Half of our economic output is moderately or highly dependent on nature. Budget allocations for the environment can no longer be considered a nice thing to do but are a critical sector of the economy to invest in, with returns and savings that will be realised right across society and industry. However, Australia's legacy of structural underfunding of on-ground nature conservation has largely continued. We can't rely on the private sector. It's very hard to see how the Nature Repair Market will succeed without substantial underpinning investment. I call on the government and the minister to ensure that this is rectified. I appreciate that there are a number of priorities, but the environment is omnipresent—it is always going to be there—and it has been underfunded for so long. I call on the government to rectify this as soon as possible.

See this speech in context