‘Nature short-changed’: Greenies unleash over Federal Budget 2024

The government is being accused of having ‘paper policies’ when it comes to protecting nature.

Environment groups have welcomed the focus on renewable energy in the federal budget, but slammed the government for failing to provide any new money for nature.

Quinton Clements from WWF-Australia said the budget “left nature short-changed” and did not deliver the funding needed to fulfil government pledges to stop species extinctions and protect 30 per cent of the country’s land and sea areas.

The Australian Conservation Foundation said it was a “big budget for renewables, but industry gets most of the new money. Nature gets almost no new money.”

CEO Kelly O’Shanassy said experts had estimated $2 billion a year was needed just to help Australian threatened species recover.

While plentiful in some parts of Australia, there are concerns the koala could become extinct in other parts within a generation. Picture: Adam Bruzzone

This is “less than a quarter of what is splashed annually in fuel tax credits,” she said.

The Australian Marine Conservation Society said “investment in programs to protect and restore our coasts and oceans” was missing from the Budget.

“The government must invest so we do not risk paper policies that are not backed by the necessary resources, said the group’s campaign director Tooni Mahto.

Dr Jody Gunn from the Australian Land Conservation Alliance said biodiversity loss “impacted all aspects of our lives” including food security, health and wellbeing, community resilience and business.

“There is nothing significant in the budget for critical on-the-ground conservation efforts, let alone the massive increase that is needed to halt and reverse nature loss,” Dr Gunn said.

The Greens said the government had not allocated “a cent of new money for nature and wildlife protection”.

“The only time the environment was mentioned by the Treasurer at all in his speech last night was in relation to fast tracking approvals for more logging and fossil fuel production,” the party’s environment spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young said.

Australian Conservation Foundation CEO Kelly O'’Shanassy. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Some climate groups expressed disappointment that the provisions for the transition to renewable energy were all targeted towards industry rather than households.

Dan Cass from the group Rewiring Australia said the “next step” would be for the government “to create a low-cost loan scheme for the millions of Australians who cannot afford the upfront investment to ditch expensive gas and petrol for cheap and healthy solar, EVs and electric appliances”.

Similar comments came from the group Solar Citizens.

CEO Heidi Douglas said the budget “missed the opportunity to provide households and small businesses with longer-term relief through greater support for rooftop solar and household batteries”

“While we acknowledge many Australians will be seeking immediate power bill relief, government support for solar panels and home batteries would continue to deliver savings for up to 20 years,” Ms Douglas said.

WHAT WAS IN THE BUDGET FOR ENVIRONMENT

Drought and disaster: the budget is preparing us for the worst of times.

More than half a billion dollars has been allocated for managing drought risk, while the government is making good on its election commitment to boost Australia’s aerial firefighting capabilities, amid a host of other disaster-related initiatives.

“More than half of Australia’s local government areas had experienced a natural disaster since July 2022 – many of them more than once,” Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt said.

“That’s why we’re helping to deliver the national aerial emergency response capability worth more than $35m over the next two years. This will bring our total national contribution to $48m per year.”

Australia’s aerial firefighting capabilities are being boosted. Picture: Jeremy Piper

The development of a sovereign aerial capability – a Labor election promise, and recommended by the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements – will ease pressure on Defence to respond during such times. A review to identify cost-effective options will be the first step.

Other preparations for disaster include an extra $73.3m over four years for the National Emergency Management Agency, nearly $27m for the national emergency management stockpile (bottled water, blankets and other essentials) and $3.6m next year for mental health programs for emergency service workers.

While predictions of a hellish El Nino season were not realised over the summer, the budget seems to be suggesting Australia is now overdue for a return to hot and dry conditions, and is allocating money accordingly. The Bureau of Meteorology has received a slight funding boost, despite recent criticisms over its performance.

About $235m will be spent on climate risk in regional communities. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Danielle Smith

To manage drought and climate risk, the budget has allocated $235m over eight years for regional communities, $137.4m over five years for farmers, $15m over four years for First Nations peoples, and $120.3m over six years for as-yet unannounced trial programs that boost drought resilience.

Holding on to existing water supplies is another key budget theme: there’s $20.7m for water projects in First Nations communities, $32m for infrastructure repairs in the Great Artesian Basin (set to save 104 gigalitres of water); and an extra $28.6m for the Inspector-General of Water Compliance to pursue water thieves.

Water supplies are a key part of the environment budget. Picture: Michael Minns

The agriculture sector will also receive $63.8m in assistance over ten years to bring down its greenhouse gas emissions, while $20.7m has been allocated to improve communications with regional communities over plans for new renewable energy infrastructure.

In terms of wildlife protection, the budget has allocated $65.1m for extra research into threatened species, and $24.5m for better planning processes.

This will make it “clearer to business where complying development can more easily occur and where the ‘no go’ areas are,” Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said.

An additional $48m has been provided for reforms to the Australian Carbon Credit Unit scheme, and $134.2m has been set aside to streamline environmental approval decisions on priority projects.

Tourism operators will get a small boost to help protect the Great Barrier Reef.

Big money is being spent on international climate financing: $100m for a Pacific resilience fund and $50m for a UN green climate fund.

And $371.1m will be spent over nine years to upgrade Australia’s Antarctic research station at Macquarie Island.

“Small change” measures include $5m to engage tourism operators in protecting the Great Barrier Reef, $10m for ASIC to go after corporate greenwashers, $23m for “problematic waste streams” such as discarded solar panels, and $1.5m to improve the labelling of plant-based alternative protein products.

Originally published as ‘Nature short-changed’: Greenies unleash over Federal Budget 2024