Australian Institute of Marine Science

• Given the parlous state of nature in Australia, these commitments are important.
• The promises include ending new extinctions, fixing national nature laws and protecting 30% of our land and waters.
• In our view, the budget takes very small steps towards making good on the many government’s promises, but falls well short of what is needed.

A suite of big promises

• In the words of the government’s own report, “the challenges to the existence of the plants and animals that define Australia are bigger than ever”.
• It will also strengthen national nature laws, otherwise known as the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
• This includes pledges to create ten new Indigenous Protected Areas and double the number of Indigenous Rangers.

Getting tough on environmental laws

• And it will only be effective if new environmental laws – currently being negotiated – give it the powers to prevent further biodiversity loss.
• This body would provide high quality environmental data to support environmental regulation, planning and reporting.
• There is also growing demand for biodiversity data for environmental accounting, business disclosures and the proposed Nature Repair Market.

What else for nature?

• Effective protected area management needs stronger investment and active conservation, including management of invasive species and restoring degrading environments.
• Many of Australia’s existing protected areas are badly damaged by feral pests such as weeds, foxes and feral cats, as well as inappropriate fire regimes and more.
• Our current Commonwealth reserve system is already under-managed and many species and ecosystems are being neglected.
• The budget also contains $28 million to develop a much-needed national climate risk assessment, which includes risks to biodiversity.

Getting our priorities straight

• Research suggests Australia must spend $2 billion a year to save its 1,900 most-imperilled species.
• And an additional $2 billion a year for 30 years could also restore 13 million hectares of Australia’s degraded land.
• Meanwhile, the cost of adequately conserving our World Heritage areas and Ramsar wetlands is not yet known.
• We must seriously examine our national priorities, and demand that Australian governments invest our national wealth in the species and ecosystems we depend on.