The Greens have vowed to pressure the government to increase environment spending to $7.8bn – 1% of the federal budget – in the next financial year if they have the balance of power after the election. The pledge comes as Labor faces scrutiny over its environmental policy after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised to set up a federal environment protection agency (EPA) if re-elected. Albanese stated it would not be the same model as one his government scrapped this term following criticism from Western Australia, without providing further details.
Greens leader Adam Bandt accused Labor of breaking its promise to protect the environment and claimed the opposition leader Peter Dutton doesn’t even pretend to care. Bandt said the Greens’ position aligns with experts advocating for a significant increase in spending on nature protection to prevent species from becoming extinct and to help reverse the documented decline in environmental health nationwide.
The Greens propose $7.8bn in funding for 2025-26 and an additional $17bn over the following three years, which would at least double government spending on nature, as analyzed by the Parliamentary Library. The party suggests these commitments should be funded by increasing taxes on corporations and billionaires, akin to their other significant platforms, such as adding dental coverage to Medicare.
Bandt emphasized the need for increased public funding for nature protection, stating that more money is spent subsidizing environmental destruction than preservation. He asserts that the Greens are the only party with a comprehensive plan to address the biodiversity crisis and that in a minority parliament, the Greens would keep Dutton out and press Labor to protect and restore Australia’s natural environment.
Australia faces environmental concerns with over 2,200 threatened native species and ecosystems, and it has been highlighted as a leader in mammal extinctions and deforestation. Labor’s promises to revamp the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act and create an EPA this term were not fulfilled.
Recently, Labor has been accused of weakening nature laws, as they collaborated with the Coalition to protect salmon farming in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour by amending the EPBC Act.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/02/australian-election-2025-greens-albanese-federal-epa-environment-adam-bandt
