The Australian Government Spends 26 Times More Harming Nature Than Protecting It
- Gregory Andrews
- 38 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Every now and then a number lands like a slap. Less than $1 billion a year to protect biodiversity - and over $26 billion a year to harm it. That is not a policy quirk. That's what a deep dive into Australia's federal government budget numbers shows.
This week, former CEO of the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust, Paul Elton, released new research through the Australian National University that assessed federal budget numbers and incentives. It showed that our federal government spends 26 times more on initiatives that harm the environment than it does on protecting it.
And here’s the part that really stinks. Four years ago, Australia promised the United Nations that we'd identify these harmful incentives and phase them out or reform them by 2030. Our government hasn't even started on the maths. No figures have been released. No discussion or plan. Just silence. They're basically treating a treaty obligation like an optional extra. And if it wasn't for Paul's work, we'd have no idea.
The Environment Minister can announce good intentions and drip feed funding to environment projects. But the Finance Minister Katy Gallagher is setting the direction of travel, and it's 26:1 in favour of destruction.
Call to action: email Finance Minister Katy Gallagher
If you only do one thing after reading this, make it this: email Finance Minister, Senator Katy Gallagher, and tell her Australia's budget priorities are upside down.
Suggested subject line: 26:1 is not a Nature Strategy
Suggested message (please personalise):“Katy Gallagher, as Finance Minister you are approving a budget that spends about $26 billion a year on incentives that harm biodiversity, while spending under $1 billion a year protecting it. That's roughly $26 to trash nature for every $1 to protect it. And given that the environment is our natural capital, you're effectively approving destruction of Australia's long-term wealth and prosperity. Furthermore, Australia committed in 2022 under the Global Biodiversity Framework to identify harmful incentives and reform them by 2030. Please publish a full and honest accounting of biodiversity-harmful incentives, make keeping our promise to the United Nations a priority, and begin reform by starting with the most damaging subsidies - those on fossil fuels. Our national budget should stop paying for extinction and destruction of Australia's natural heritage and capital.”