Coalition says Labor’s nature positive summit is a ‘global embarrassment’

The Coalition has slammed a global nature positive summit costing taxpayers almost $5 million to host, saying it was an ‘embarrassment’ for Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.

A global nature positive summit costing taxpayers almost $5 million for Australia to host has been slammed as an “embarrassment” for Labor, with only a “B-team” line-up of attendees.

The Albanese government spent $2.86m and NSW chipped in $2m for the three-day event to be held in Sydney next week, an expense criticised by the federal Coalition as a waste of taxpayer money.

Opposition environment spokesman Jonno Duniam said the summit was a mere “consolation prize” for Labor as it was struggling to find support for its controversial nature positive proposal and had not progressed other planned reforms to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conversation Act.

“We are in a cost-of-living crisis, and our environmental approval laws are an absolute mess – and yet millions of dollars are being splashed on a talkfest that will do nothing to improve Australia’s standing in the world,” Mr Duniam said.

In 2022, when Ms Plibersek announced the summit, she said it would attract businesses, environment groups, scientists and “government ministers from around the world”.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has defended the summit and criticised the Coalition for considering money spent on preserving nature a waste. Picture: Gaye Gerard

There are only two foreign dignitaries listed as speakers on the program — ministers from the Pacific nations of Niue and Fiji — however a further 23 international government representatives are expected to attend.

Mr Duniam said the summit was a “global embarrassment” and governments worldwide clearly saw it as a “waste of time”.

Coalition environment spokesman Jonno Duniam says the summit is a ‘consolation prize’ for Labor because it has no environmental reforms to show for almost a term in office.

“We only have two ministers on the program while hundreds are expected to attend a biodiversity conference in Colombia just a few weeks later,” he said.

For two years, 24 staff from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water worked to organise the conference, according to an answer to a Senate question on notice.

“This is a B-team conference organised by an inept government who would rather employ more bureaucrats in Canberra at a cost of millions of dollars to taxpayers than achieve practical, on-the-ground environmental outcomes,” Mr Duniam said.

The summit was created to bring together public and private sector investment to meet a global target of $US200bn in nature repair spending by 2030. Picture: Zoos Victoria

Among the 1000 expected attendees from some 50 countries, there are representatives from banks and superannuation funds as well as esteemed conservationists.

Ms Plibersek said Opposition Leader Peter Dutton believed “a single dollar spent on the environment is a waste of money”.

“We’re proud of what we’re doing to leave nature better off for our kids and grandkids and we want to show the world,” she said.

A NSW government spokeswoman said the summit would help to drive private investment in nature to protect and repair the environment.

She said it would also inject at least $3m in direct expenditure into the state’s economy, while the $2m costs of staging was expected to be spent with NSW businesses.

The summit was created in response to an agreement at last year’s COP meeting where a target of $US200bn in annual global spending on nature repair by 2030 was set, which will require significant private sector investment.

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Originally published as Coalition says Labor’s nature positive summit is a ‘global embarrassment’