Marion Scrymgour (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that the Government will invest an extra $262.3 million in the 2023-24 budget to address the chronic underfunding of Australia's iconic national parks;

(2) acknowledges that after a decade of mismanagement and neglect by the former Government, our national parks have been left with broken infrastructure, out-of-date equipment, and inadequate facilities; and

(3) further notes that the Government's investment will address critical infrastructure needs, including updating unsafe equipment, fixing inadequate signage, providing essential ranger housing, and refurbishing rundown facilities.

I am proud to be moving this motion today, and I am proud of the Albanese government's commitment to our national parks. In the Territory, we are blessed with a truly stunning natural landscape. From the saltwater and rainforest of the north to the deserts of the centre, we have some of the most beautiful country in the world. Our natural environment and our national parks attract tens of thousands of tourists each year, building the Territory's economy, fuelling business and providing employment.

For many Territorians, our national parks are also places of deep cultural importance. Ancient rock art at Ubirr and Uluru speak to this. For tens of thousands of years Aboriginal people have protected and nurtured our environment. Today this legacy continues with the Indigenous ranger program and thousands of Aboriginal people looking after country in the Territory.

For our national parks this funding is an absolute lifeline. For the last decade, the former government simply could not manage our national parks. The fiasco that was the Morrison government's $260 million Kakadu funding is a testament to this. For three years, the previous government sat on that money, with very little reaching the ground.

Finally we have a government that gets our national parks. Since we have been in government we have tripled the amount of money reaching frontline organisations in Kakadu. I know Minister Plibersek and her team have had long conversations with Kakadu traditional owners and national parks as well as other stakeholders about how we can get that particularly special part of the world back on track. I am very eager to see Kakadu get the support and investment it so desperately deserves.

We are committed to investing in our natural landscapes and improving working conditions for our rangers. Currently, infrastructure in our national parks is in a state of disrepair. But the Albanese Labor government is rolling out an ambitions body of work to bring this up to standard. The Albanese government's investment will go towards addressing critical infrastructure, including updating unsafe equipment, fixing inadequate signage, providing essential ranger housing and refurbishing rundown facilities, such as the Kakadu Aboriginal cultural centre. This will boost conservation activities and cultural heritage management. We aren't just paying lip service to the importance of our parks; we are putting our money where our mouth is.

This investment will also create 110 new jobs, including new roles for traditional owners to work on country and new positions to ensure safety and deliver major projects. I have seen the impact of Indigenous rangers firsthand. Before I came to parliament, I worked alongside hundreds of Indigenous rangers through the Northern Land Council. The work our rangers undertake on a daily basis is not only grounded in cultural knowledge; it is also a meaningful employment pathway for many of our young people out bush. The Albanese government gets this and understands this.

For Lingiari, the additional traditional owner rangers and the $262 million plan more broadly will have huge socioeconomic as well as environmental outcomes. I am lucky to have parks of natural significance in my electorate, including Kakadu, Litchfield, Uluru-Kata Tjuta, Finke Gorge, Nitmiluk, Tjoritja, or the West MacDonnell Ranges, and Watarrka, to name but a few. I want to send out a special thanks to Minister Plibersek for all of the work that she has done on this. It is refreshing to have a minister for the environment that actually cares about the environment, talks the talk and actually does the work that is required.

Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for the motion?

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Lingiari failed to mention in her contribution the Fyles or the Gunner Northern Territory governments. Indeed, when it comes to funding and when it comes to management particularly of Kakadu and other national parks and environmental icons—

Marion Scrymgour (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Federal parks.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, they're federal parks, sure, but you've still got to manage. You've still got to be able to be there when it counts, and the successive Labor governments in the Northern Territory have not done that. But let's talk federally. Let's go to what has been done in this portfolio. The member for Lingiari talks about environmental protection and about national parks. We all want our national parks to be the best they can be. What we don't want to see is our national parks locked up—that would be the Greens' way—and then be open to pests and open to absolute destruction. But, in this portfolio, we have seen $178 million of cuts to environmental protection measures from the figures shown in Budget Paper No. 1. There's also a $407 million shortfall between the forecast spending and actual spending on environmental protection for 2022-23.

I would not normally quote organisations such as the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Wilderness Society, WWF Australia and the Australian Land Conservation Alliance, but they have absolutely savaged the handling of the budget in this particular area. There have been absolutely staggering delays from the Minister for the Environment and Water, the member for Sydney, and her office in answer to pleas for information and certainty about whether or not some groups are going to get funding. I know that this is the day when those opposite are going to come in here and spruik their 12 months of delivery. I know it's the day when they're going to be patting themselves on the back having been in government for a year.

The coalition welcomes this motion from the member for Lingiari. I know she comes here with good faith. I know that she's coming here to work hard for her constituents. I'm pleased that she's actually in this place because, but for me and but for the hard work and advocacy of others to keep the seat of Lingiari in the federal parliament, there would not be a seat of Lingiari. Regional people deserve representation, and I don't care whether that representation is a Labor member or whoever—as long as it's not the Greens—but we want to see regional people represented, and, as I say, we want to see our national parks be the best they can be.

Thank you, I'll take that interjection, member for Lingiari, because I know that it's not right that somebody from Tennant Creek or Katherine or Alice Springs, who should be represented, should have to go all the way to Darwin to get representation, so I thank you for your involvement in this place.

I thank you for bringing this motion forward. I represented Kosciuszko from 2010 to 2016 until there was a redistribution, and I know how important national parks are. Indeed, a previous National Party leader and iconic figure, Tim Fischer—the late great Tim Fischer AC—started off the Tumbatrek. It should have actually been called the 'Tim-batrek', because it was Tim's baby. He came up with the idea to promote tourism and promote national parks and to promote the balance of visitation of national parks with the need to conserve and protect the environments of these unique wilderness spots within Australia. Certainly Tumbatrek has been going for many, many years. I revived it back in 2011. I'm glad that I did, and now the member for Eden-Monaro carries the long staff that Tim trekked with. I know that the Labor Party's talking points say 'a decade of neglect and misery' et cetera but, in 2019-20 alone, we devoted $216 million to Kakadu alone and another $233 million to other national parks. We cared. We delivered. It's time Labor just had a little bit of a look back at the real history of what we did in the coalition, during the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison years to protect the environment, to enhance those unique wildlife areas and to make sure that we did everything we could—and we did!—to ensure that they were protected for future generations.

Tracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are a government that values and protects our environment, and that is why I am pleased to rise to speak in support of this motion by the member for Lingiari. The Albanese Labor government has committed an extra $262.3 million in the 2023 budget to address the chronic underfunding of Australia's iconic national parks. This is additional funding on top of the existing parks funding. The $262.3 million covers some of our most precious places, including Booderee National Park and the World Heritage listed Kakadu and Uluru-Kata Tjuta national parks. It also includes Christmas Island National Park, Pulu Keeling National Park, Norfolk Island National Park and a network of 60 Australian marine parks.

We need to act because the scale of the mismanagement and neglect that took place under the previous government cannot be understated. Sadly, that mismanagement left our national parks with broken infrastructure, out-of-date equipment and inadequate facilities. Without sufficient funding, important work like protecting threatened species is adversely affected, and the tourism industries that local economies rely on are not supported. This compromises the ability to protect some of our most precious places and the plants and animals that call them home.

The Albanese Labor government will also invest $163.4 million to save the Australian Institute of Marine Science, which, through a dedicated team of marine scientists, helps us to protect the Great Barrier Reef. Again, after years of underfunding by the previous government, they were left with mouldy ceilings and out-of-date laboratories, and with their jobs at risk.

The additional $262.3 million in funding for our national parks is a vitally important investment to make sure that we manage nature better. These environments requires staff and tourism businesses to operate, which means that funding and protecting them is also good for our economy. Under this new funding, 110 new jobs will be created, including new roles for traditional owners to work on country. The Albanese Labor government's investment will boost cultural heritage management and conservation activities; address critical infrastructure needs, including updating unsafe equipment, providing ranger housing and refurbishing rundown facilities like the Kakadu Aboriginal cultural centre; and support important programs such as the new National Seed Bank at the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

We must better protect our precious places, and better support those who manage them, to ensure that they can be enjoyed for generations to come. As a government we want to be sure that we are leaving our environment in a sound state for our children and our grandchildren. This is important to me as a parent and as a grandparent. I love our natural environment, as do many of you here, like many people in my electorate of Pearce in Western Australia, where we have some stunning bushlands, national and regional parks and coastline. It's very important.

As an ambassador for the Western Australia Parks Foundation, appointed by former governor Kerry Sanderson, I promote and raise awareness of our natural environment, particularly our national parks. Pearce has many beautiful bushland areas and more than 30 kilometres of stunning coastline. We have the Yellagonga Regional Park, the Yanchep National Park and others that I know are highly valued by our community and by visitors.

The Albanese Labor government is investing more in our parks, which is in stark contrast to the previous government. In 2019 the Liberals and Nationals promised $276 million in funding for Kakadu, yet they delivered just a fraction of that—$17 million. As at 31 March 2023, Labor had delivered $50.31 million and also contracted another $2.96 million. We have already delivered important infrastructure, and, importantly, we are consulting with traditional owners to advance new tourism developments. We value our natural environments and we want to protect them now and into the future.

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the next sitting.