Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Hansard source

I really thought the crossbench would be interested in what our hardworking environmental scientists are doing and how they're benefiting.

Australians love boating, camping and fishing. They love escaping into nature. We've got a government that will invest in nature and invest to support the people who are caring for nature. We've doubled funding for our national parks, and that means, in places like Kakadu, Indigenous rangers are able to do things like fix the missing croc-warning signs that those opposite didn't replace. That Indigenous ranger on $77,000 a year will get an extra $1,604 a year in their pocket because of our tax cuts. We doubled funding for the Australian Institute of Marine Science, saving 100 jobs in Townsville and growing another 100 jobs. For the scientists working there, every single one of those people will get a tax cut.

The ecologists that were looking after the handfish in Tasmania, taking them out of the Derwent River to protect them from warming waters and earning, say, $100,000 will receive a tax cut of $2,179. I'm very happy to report to the House that the handfish are doing really well after Christmas. A plumber working in Antarctica on expeditions down there, in one of the harshest environments in the world, will receive a tax cut of about $3,729 a year on their $156,000 salary.

You can count on Labor to invest in protecting the environment because we know that Australians who love their boating, camping and fishing want their national environment to be there for their kids and their grandkids. You can count on Labor to stand up for the people who are working to protect our environment.

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