Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Albanese Labor government is committed to leaving a better world for future generations. We want to ensure that our kids, grandkids and each generation that comes after that inherit a planet that is healthy, vibrant and sustainable. We know that repairing our environment is not easy, but it will be a collective effort. That's why we're proposing to work with landholders, including farmers and First Nations communities, to take action on creating a more sustainable Australia. Whether it's through planting native species, repairing damaged riverbeds or removing invasive species, we want to do the work to restore and retain the natural beauty and wonder of our great country. That's why the Nature Repair Market Bill is a groundbreaking piece of legislation that will make it easier for people to invest in activities that will help repair our country and our planet.

By creating a market for nature repair we're providing an opportunity for those who care about the environment and the longevity of our planet to collaborate and contribute to its restoration and preservation. The purpose of the Nature Repair Market Bill 2023 is to provide a framework to establish a voluntary national market in biodiversity certificates. The bill will allow for project proponents to undertake projects to enhance and protect Australia's biodiversity. They can then apply to the Clean Energy Regulator, where one can obtain a biodiversity certificate.

Australia is one of 17 megadiverse countries with a disproportionate political responsibility for conservation and biodiversity management. Even though Australia occupies just five per cent of the world's landmass, we support almost 12.5 per cent of vertebrate animals—that is, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals—and eight per cent of all described plant, animal and fungal species. In addition, 85 per cent of Australia's plants, animals, reptiles and amphibians are endemic—that is, they are found nowhere else.

The most recent state of the environment report, 2021, released by the Minister for the Environment and Water in July 2022—it was held back and hidden by the former government but rightfully released by the minister for the environment soon after our election in May 2022—found that Australia's native plant and animal species are in a poor or very poor and deteriorating state. Our aquatic ecosystems are also in a poor state, with the aquatic ecosystem condition in southern, eastern and south-western Australia in a very poor state. Marine habitats, species and ecosystem processes are in a predominantly good and stable condition; however, reefs and reef associated species are in a poor condition and deteriorating.

What the state of the environment report brings to light is the mounting cumulative impacts of a multitude of poorly addressed threats to biodiversity, including climate change, habitat disturbance and land clearing, invasive species, fishing, extractive industries and pollution—threats that were ignored and, in the case of this report, hidden by the former Liberal government. Leading Australian scientists have identified 19 Australian ecosystems that are already collapsing, and these include the Murray-Darling river basin and the Great Barrier Reef, which have until now underpinned significant sectors of the Australian economy.

There have been many studies that have explored the adequacy of funding for biodiversity conservation in Australia, the funding need and the direct value of ecosystem services provided by nature. These studies found that Australia spends just 15 per cent of what is needed to avoid extinctions and recover threatened species. By spending approximately $2 billion annually for 30 years, we could restore 13 million hectares of degraded land without affecting intensive agriculture or urban areas.

On top of this, approximately half of Australia's GDP has a moderate to very high direct dependence on ecosystem services provided by nature. In the last quarter of 2022, the minister for the environment formally presented the Albanese government's response to both the state of the environment report and the Samuel review. This includes the 2022-2032 Threatened species action plan: towards zero extinctions. The revision of the former government's threatened species action plan includes new objectives preventing new extinctions and a commitment to conserving and protecting at least 30 per cent of Australia's landmass. If you look at the state of the environment report, that's the very least that we can do.

The minister has put forward the Nature Positive Plan, which is better for the environment and better for business. Now that commitments made in the lead-up to the election have been formalised and the government has responded to the Samuel review, the Nature Positive Plan brings forward reforms including reform of the EPBC Act, centred on national environment standards; the creation of an independent environmental protection agency; greater use of regional planning and improved conservation planning arrangements; reform of environmental offsets; the creation of a nature repair market; increased access to environmental data information; and better working relationships with our First Nations people.

The minister described the Nature Positive Plan as the biggest environmental reform agenda in a generation. The minister has indicated that legislation to implement reforms to the EPBC Act would be released as an exposure draft before the end of this year, and I look forward to contributing on that bill. The NRM bills we're discussing today are timely and will empower the minister to make biodiversity assessment instruments and methodology determinations setting out specific requirements for how distinct types of biodiversity projects may be implemented. They will establish the important Nature Repair Market Committee to advise the minister, including on whether biodiversity assessment instruments are appropriate and whether determinations are consistent with the standards. They will require the CER to maintain an online platform to facilitate trading in these biodiversity certificates. We know that biodiversity and nature are greatly important to Australia, not only to underpin cultural and spiritual systems but to provide educational and scientific opportunities and a critical ecosystem for services which underpin our economic and social systems, not only here in Australia but the world over.

The efforts of parties under the biodiversity convention, which is an international agreement, have largely failed, which has led to the establishment of further biodiversity frameworks. This framework outlines four high-level goals to be achieved by 2050 and 23 action oriented targets to be achieved by 2030, including at least 30 per cent of areas of degraded terrestrial land to be restored. This is an incredibly important step. Prior to the development of that framework, it was determined that more funding needed to be put towards this. This bill will help establish markets to provide a mechanism to do that. The Nature Repair Market Bill is a way for the Albanese Labor government to deliver on its plan through establishment of this market. It will make it easier for businesses and individuals to protect nature through investing in projects. In a world where we know climate change is having a real impact on the day to day and on our economy, we are working very hard to ensure Australia is habitable and safe for generations to come.

Investment in conservation and restoration is imperative for a nature-positive future, and it's important that businesses have the opportunity to prevent environmental decline by investing in the very environment they benefit from. We know that greenwashing is a problem and something that our regulators are actively investigating. Through this bill, we will provide a mechanism for businesses to have the opportunity to invest in something that will really make a difference, something that will be regulated and above board.

We also know that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples will be able to promote their unique knowledge in establishing the market. Establishing the market in legislation will ensure its integrity, ensure investment in nature and create environmental improvements across Australia. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples will also have greater employment and economic opportunities, as they will be able to design projects on their land and waters that reflect the connection they have to the country.

This market will operate in parallel with the carbon market in order to encourage carbon farming projects that deliver benefits for biodiversity. The approach will be efficient and draw upon lessons learnt from prior involvements in the carbon market reflected continuously throughout the development of the environmental market.

Transparency is so important as part of this bill. Detailed information about projects and certificates will be available to be accessed by the public. Information will be consistently published by a regulator, and the relevant data will be released by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. This will allow the parliament and, importantly, the public to monitor the scheme, to provide feedback and to have confidence in the scheme. The department is committed to working with the ACCC and ASIC to prevent greenwashing claims from certificates used in the nature repair market. It's important that the statements made about certificates are accurate and that they reflect the projects they represent rather than being misleading.

In prior decades, successive governments have failed to address the key drivers of a cumulative loss in biodiversity, such as land clearing, intensive agriculture and intensive resource projects. It's imperative these issues are addressed as soon as possible in order to prevent the consequences they bring about. That's what the repair market bills and the establishment of this market are all about. The issue of comprehensive reform of our national environmental laws in order to adequately protect Australia's unique biodiversity remains high on the Albanese Labor government's agenda. These bills provide an outline for the creation of a market in biodiversity certificates, allowing the private sector to price something that's invaluable for the purposes of their claim. It's a good way for our good corporate citizens to get involved in repairing our environment.

The key elements of this repair market bill will be provided in subordinate legislation, including rules, biodiversity assessment instruments and methodology determinations. The bill and explanatory memorandum will allow the development of methodologies to focus on the restoration and protection of habitat that's critical for threatened species and ecological communities. This bill will address the need to live on a more sustainable planet that can be enjoyed by us and future generations to come. I commend these bills to the House.

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