Bushland the size of New Zealand to be protected under federal budget boost

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Millions of hectares of Australian bushland the size of New Zealand will soon be protected under a $250 million dollar federal budget commitment. Labor says the funding will ensure Australia reaches a key international climate goal of protecting 30% of Australian land by 2030.

Transcript

00:00You're a natural.

00:03Politics can be fraught with snakes in the grass.

00:06I really like snakes.

00:08Dangers the Environment Minister knows well.

00:11A Labor veteran in the government about to hand down its fourth budget with a pledge

00:16of her own.

00:17Australians love their natural environment.

00:19That's why we want to protect 30% of Australia's land by 2030.

00:25We will set aside $250 million to achieve that protection.

00:31That money spent over five years to include another 30 million hectares of bushland as

00:36protected area.

00:38Part of a global goal known as 30 by 30, which Australia signed up to three years ago.

00:44This extra funding in the budget will get us to 30 by 30.

00:49Not welcomed by conservationists, but just a fraction of the $5 billion green fund the

00:54sector proposed.

00:55It's going to take a lot more than a $250 million fund to meet the 30% protection target,

01:03but it's a start.

01:04But the Commonwealth aims to add to that through the states and territories and leveraging

01:09private investment.

01:10This is a critical start to safeguard the nature for future generations.

01:16We have to protect what's left.

01:18It's a biodiversity and an economic imperative.

01:21Australia will not meet our obligations of 30 by 30 if they don't stop the logging, the

01:28bulldozing and the polluting of our environment.

01:32This budget promise in Tanya Plibersek's portfolio comes just days after the minister was effectively

01:38sidelined by her boss on a decision around the environmental impacts of salmon farming

01:44in Tasmania.

01:46It's not the first intervention of this kind either.

01:49Last year, Anthony Albanese shelved the minister's signature nature positive laws.

01:54Has Anthony Albanese put politics above the environment?

01:58We are all absolutely committed as a government to better looking after our natural environment.

02:03I'm very aware that we've still got more to do.

02:06For now, the bigger challenge is in an election environment.

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