December 2023 E-Newsletters

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Topics: Nature Repair Market, Water Trigger

The final week of Parliament, for me, ended on a high for nature.

Following the historic passage of the Restoring Our Rivers Bill to rescue the Murray-Darling Basin Plan last week, the Albanese Government this week passed two landmark environmental reforms.

We have expanded the ‘water trigger’ to unconventional gas. This measure currently requires certain coal and gas projects that are likely to have a significant impact on a water resource to be assessed and approved by the Commonwealth. It previously only applied to conventional forms of gas. There are also other sources of natural gas, known as ‘unconventional’ gas like shale and tight gas, that are more difficult to extract and require additional technological efforts sometimes using vast volumes of water e.g. fracking.

Expanding the water trigger to apply to unconventional gas ensures greater protection of our most precious resource – water. This change is consistent with recommendations made by Professor Graeme Samuel AC in the 2020 review of the EPBC Act, which the former Liberal-Coalition Government failed to act on. This is a commonsense change, providing businesses with certainty and the community with confidence that water resources are properly regulated and safeguarded.

I thank the several First Nations groups I met in Canberra and my local community environmental groups who raised concerns about water scarcity in the Northern Territory.

Australian Conservation Foundation - Community Forum: Nature's Voice in Action.

Traditional Owners and Allies from the Northern Territory.

Australian Parents 4 Climate Action Darwin and NT

I pay tribute to friend and colleague Marion Scrymgour, the Labor Member for Lingiari (covering the NT) for her tireless advocacy on behalf of her community. Marion was pivotal in making the voices of First People, pastoralists, business and community groups heard in Canberra.

In more good news, the Albanese Government will be establishing the world’s first Nature Repair Market.

“We need to challenge our mental models. When we worship at the temple of GDP, nature comes off second-best. This reflects a historic failure of economics to take into account the value of our natural world. This is baffling, considering that the natural world is the source of our food, water, air and raw materials. It nourishes us, both physically and spiritually.”

Dr Michelle Ananda-Rajah, Speech to Parliament , 14 June 2023

The Nature Repair Market is a signal to business and the private sector in partnership with grass roots community groups, to invest in repairing nature and biodiversity. Businesses are increasingly looking for ways to demonstrate their environmental credentials and achieve positive outcomes for nature. The nature repair market will be grounded in science and oversight to ensure its integrity. It will encourage investment in nature repair that leaves nature better off, thereby rejecting the status quo which has seen nature go backwards. Australia’s environment is in a “poor and deteriorating state” is how the last State of the Environment Report (2021) put it- the same report that was buried by the Liberals. We have to reverse that narrative which means square up honestly to the scale of the problem and finding scalable sustainable solutions.

Nature repair projects may mean rehabilitating a koala corridor, seagrass meadows, removing feral pests and weeds or excluding livestock to protect a marshland. And there is money to be made. The World Economic Forum estimates biodiversity credit values could reach $3 billion by 2030 and $104 billion by 2050. There are investment funds on standby in Australia, who have been waiting for this signal. The Nature Repair Market is laying the foundations of the so called Green Wall Street.

The Nature Repair Market provides a framework for a voluntary national market that delivers improved biodiversity outcomes. Eligible landholders who undertake projects that enhance or protect biodiversity would be able to receive tradeable certificates that will be tracked through a national register. This framework would facilitate private and philanthropic investment in biodiversity.

The Nature Repair Market will have stringent oversight from Government, independent agencies and citizens to ensure integrity and transparency. The market will be regulated by the Clean Energy Regulator which will have monitoring and enforcement powers to ensure that projects are conducted in accordance with the rules and are meeting the outcomes promised.

Strengthening engagement between the public and private sectors on solving nature-related issues and investing in nature will be key themes at the Global Nature Positive Summit, being held in Sydney next year.

How we actually increase private sector flows into nature repair, will be the task of the Nature Finance Council who met for the first time on 4 December 2023. Chaired by former Secretary of the Department of the Treasury Ken Henry AC, the council includes finance experts, businesses, environmental scientists, and First Nations representatives.

The Council’s first work plan will be available in early 2024. The Council will look to engage with government departments and agencies across several portfolios.

The Nature Repair Market in concert with the water trigger, the Albanese Government’s commitment to protecting 30% of land and waters by 2030, our energy transformation (with over 100 renewable energy projects in the pipeline) and feral pest programs, will help us achieve our stated goal of no new extinctions.

Protecting nature, leaving it in a better state than how we found it requires heavy lifting from private and public sectors. Imagine the career opportunities for young people! We want to incentivise the restoration of nature by mobilising private investment. The demand is there and we are now providing the framework to enable those green shoots to grow.

Warmest wishes till next time,

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Topic: Disaster Preparedness

For some in our community there will be no leisurely summer vacation strolling on the beach or hanging out with loved ones after a lazy lunch. Our natural disaster first responders are either on call, training or in the field battling the elements. The era of consequences with respect to climate change has become all too familiar to this elite group of individuals. Their work is physically and mentally taxing, but it saves whole communities and keeps others, like ours, shielded from the worst of it.

The soundtrack to their jobs is the cracking of flaming branches falling to the forest floor. No doubt there is a deep sense of camaraderie and solidarity within these crews-lives are on the line and teamwork is everything. A community and country is grateful. But more than gratitude, we are focused on ensuring that our nation is better prepared for those disasters, until this planet stabilises as humanity weans itself off fossil fuels.

Recovering from disasters currently costs Australia an average of $38 billion a year, and despite our action on climate change, this damage bill is forecast to reach around $73 billion per year by 2060. While emergency management remains the primary responsibility of states and territories, we all must play a part. That is why the Albanese Government is investing in a range of mitigation and resilience projects to ensure communities are prepared for future disasters, while also putting downward pressure on insurance premiums by reducing risk.

The Albanese Government has delivered all Commonwealth-led recommendations from the Royal Commission (2020) into National Natural Disaster Arrangements.

Key measures implemented in response to the Royal Commission's recommendations include:

Humanihut will sleep up to four people and comes with aircon, power, water and waste services. The first camp will have an eventual capacity of 700 people, or over 1,400 first responders.

We are boosting Services Australia by an additional 300 staff and have introduced online claiming for certain disaster payments to make it easier for people to access the support they need while reducing the burden on our phone lines.

Playing to the strengths in communities matters. This is why farmers, landholders and organisations are getting over $13 million to remove flammable weeds, reducing threats to agricultural and environmental assets, and mapping critical habitat of threatened species.

We have increased funding to a veteran-run volunteer organisation called Disaster Relief Australia, which will help take some of the pressure off our ADF. The $38.3 million in additional funding will support an additional 5000 volunteers concurrently improving wellbeing and social connectedness by providing veterans the opportunity to continue to serve their communities.

We can never prepare for every scenario an unstable planet throws at us but we can be better prepared. However, no amount of preparation matters unless we tackle the root cause being climate change. This is why we have legislated ambitious but achievable targets which interact with our skills program, industrial policies, resources sector, environmental reforms and transport policies as we pivot towards a decarbonised economy. We are on track, but it is going to take a whole-of-society effort for us to get there. Like our first responders, we are all obliged to roll up our sleeves and be part of the change we want to see.

The National Health and Climate Strategy launched at COP 28 by Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, Ged Kearney.

As we wrap up another year, I want to take a moment to extend my warmest wishes to you all. Christmas is a time to pause and appreciate the bonds that unite us as family and neighbours. I wish you a holiday season filled with warmth, safety, and cherished moments with loved ones. My wish is for a kinder and wiser 2024- if only I could get that online!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.

Sincerely,