Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I completely agree that this parliament must set aside political differences and work together to protect our natural environment, because nature in Australia is in crisis. Every hour, we bulldoze an area of unique and threatened species habitat the size of eight Melbourne Cricket Grounds. Over the last 200 years, we have suffered the largest biodiversity decline of any continent, and while we've made progress towards our 2030 targets climate change continues to pose an existential threat to our environment, with reports yesterday that we reached the critical threshold of 1.5 degrees of global warming last year.

Now, this is dire, but I want to acknowledge the progress that this parliament has made. We will now have more investment in nature protection through measures like the nature repair market. We stopped fossil fuel exploration in PEP-11 to protect Sydney's coastline from oil and gas extraction. And I want to pay tribute to the communities who have really driven this, many of whom are in my electorate of Wentworth. You have stood up, and government has listened. We have strengthened our environmental laws, with a water trigger to properly assess the impact of major projects on water resources. And, again, this is something I am very proud that I advocated for and am proud to have seen done. Finally, we are now on track for a 43 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030. We need to go further, but this is absolutely critical.

But this is nowhere near enough. People in Wentworth know we need to do more—people like Marnie, who wrote to me about the need for an independent environmental regulator, people like Nicholas, who are calling for action to protect 30 per cent of our land by 2030, and people like Jennifer, who are demanding stronger environmental laws. I share their concerns and their ambitions. From saving the maugean skate to conserving the northern jarrah forests, the need for urgent action to halt and reverse biodiversity decline has never been clearer.

To protect our environment for future generations, we need to do five things. Firstly, we need to end native logging. This is an industry that destroys koala habitat, worsens the climate crisis and costs New South Wales's taxpayers millions each year because the state-run logging corporation is not even economically viable.

Secondly, we need to fix our broken environmental laws. The EPBC Act doesn't protect the environment and it doesn't work for business. Professor Graeme Samuel provided the blueprint for reform back in 2020. We have not made the progress we should have in this parliament, and this must be a priority for the next parliament.

Thirdly, we need to account for climate pollution in environmental assessments. Climate change is the biggest threat to nature, yet our environmental laws don't even consider it. That must change so we can accelerate clean energy projects and take account of harm caused by large amounts of climate pollution.

Fourthly, we need an independent environmental protection authority. Our environmental laws are not being enforced, and too many decisions are being left in the hands of politicians. We need a tough cop on the beat to ensure decisions are based on the evidence, not decided by vested interests.

Fifthly, and finally, we need to increase our investment in nature. Over the past decade, federal spending on biodiversity has been just 30 per cent of the OECD average—a fraction of what the scientists say is needed. While funding has increased in this parliament, the government still spends 16 times more on subsidising fossil fuels than protecting nature. That must change.

None of these actions alone are a silver bullet, but together they would put us on a path to protecting our environment for future generations. Implementing them won't be easy. It will require conviction to change the status quo. It will require collaboration between parliamentarians, business and civil society. We can no longer afford to go back and forth, parliament by parliament and see good work reversed. It will take courage to stand up to vested interests. It is now up to all members of this House to work together to protect the Australian natural environment we all treasure.

I want to particularly thank the member for North Sydney for bringing this really important issue to the House today. It is absolutely critical. I know that the environment and climate are issues that North Sydney is passionate about, and the member for North Sydney has represented her community extremely well in consistently advocating for this. I'm sure she will continue to do this after she leaves this House.

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