Coalition to cut federal government funding to the Environmental Defenders Office
If elected, the Coalition has vowed to cut federal government funding for an organisation that was one of the driving forces behind the review of salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour.
Tasmania
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If elected on May 3, the Coalition has vowed to cut federal government funding to the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO).
The EDO is an organisation that runs litigation and offers legal support in climate change and environment cases.
Under the previous Coalition government, the EDO had its funding cut.
However, the funding was reinstated when Anthony Albanese became Prime Minister in 2022.
The Albanese government committed to providing $8.2m to the EDO over four years.
The organisation was a key player in urging Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to review salmon farming activities in Macquarie Harbour.
Ms Plibersek did not rule either way due to her own government pushing through legislation that effectively allowed aquaculture activities to occur in the harbour.
The EDO was also slammed by Federal Justice Natalie Charlesworth, who ruled that the group had confected evidence and coached witnesses in its legal challenge of a Santos gas project in the Timor Sea.
On Thursday, while speaking on the outskirts of Hobart, Liberal environment spokesman Jonno Duniam described the EDO as a “job destroying organisation”.
“This is a group that does not need taxpayer funds,” Senator Duniam said.
“And the Prime Minister bandies about this, saying that this Labor government is a friend of the worker and supports Australian jobs.
“Well, the best thing he could do is to cut funding to this organisation, which has caused so much carnage for so many businesses and — more importantly — created so much uncertainty over so many jobs — thousands — across this country in just the last three years alone.”
Senator Duniam denied it being an attempt to wipe out an organisation the Coalition ideologically opposed.
“The EDO happened to operate quite successfully without a cent of Commonwealth taxpayer money between 2013 and 2022, last time we were in government,” he said.
“We cut funding to them because it was the right thing to do for jobs and for our economy.
“We don’t support a single cent of taxpayer money going to an organisation that wants to take away any Australian job.”
The EDO declined to comment when asked by The Mercury for its thoughts on the Coalition wanting to defund the organisation.
Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO Michael Bailey backed plans to cut funding to the EDO.
“Organisations like the EDO are designed to delay projects to death. It’s a problem that faces businesses right across Australia,” Mr Bailey said.
“We’ve seen that play out in Tasmania in many different ways, and it’s time – as a nation – we stand up to the environmental protest organisations and call them out for what they are.
“The fact they are funded by the federal government is extraordinary.
“They’re an organisation designed to stop employment, to stop economies and to get people to move away from locations — that’s the design of these sorts of organisations.
“We need to face up to that, and again, to fund it is crazy. This is a good policy, one that will protect jobs across Australia.”
Originally published as Coalition to cut federal government funding to the Environmental Defenders Office
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