Environment fixes 'futile' as long as harms approved

Australia’s efforts to tackle climate change and fix environmental issues have been branded futile when less is spent on programs to restore nature than on those supporting its destruction.

The warning comes on the back of a landmark report into climate risks facing the nation as the government promises to patch up a “broken” system.

Environment Minister Murray Watt told the Landcare Australia conference on Tuesday he was trying to emulate the organisation’s success to pass environmental reforms through parliament within months.

The group had built partnerships and attracted bipartisan support to achieve change, he said.

The proposed changes stem from an almost five-year-old report that found national environmental laws were “fundamentally broken”.

“Those laws are not working for the environment, which experiences ongoing decline,” Mr Watt said.

“They’re not working for businesses because of cumbersome processes to get projects assessed and approved.”

But some question how much power Mr Watt and Agriculture Minister Julie Collins have inside the Albanese government to prevent further harm.

“If they don’t have the power when they walk into cabinet or expenditure review committee ... we’re not going to get the scale of change that we need,” peak body chief Kate Andrews told the conference.

Dr Andrews leads NRM Regions, a coalition of natural resource management groups dedicated to regenerating and sustaining Australia’s biodiversity.

Amid a lukewarm response to the Albanese government’s latest national adaptation plan and continued approvals for environmentally damaging activities, Dr Andrews demanded better.

Environmental issues will take vast funds to solve but there are other categories of spending to draw on, she said.

“Another reason why we need Treasury and others at the table is that less money is spent on fixing the environment than in subsidising harmful activities to the environment,” the NRM Regions boss said, drawing applause.

“You can keep distracting us over here where we’re pissing into the wind, playing these games about getting more money.

“But meanwhile all of this is being spent creating the problems we’re trying to fix.

“We’re never going to win if that keeps happening.”

Mr Watt promised improved environmental standards, more efficient approval processes and a new environmental protection agency “with real teeth”.

“I’m very keen to make sure that the need to not just manage the decline of our natural environment, but to turn it around and restore it, remains a really key focus,” he told the conference.

“These reforms have the potential to be a watershed moment for the protection of our environment for generations to come.”

Ms Collins also attended the conference on Tuesday

This AAP article was made possible by support from Landcare Australia and the National Farmers’ Federation.