Nature takes a back seat in the 2025–26 federal Budget

Despite Australia’s natural world facing the impacts of climate change and a possible extinction crisis, less than one cent out of every dollar in the Australian federal Budget 2025–26 is allocated to protecting nature, the Australian Conservation Foundation said.

“With rampant habitat destruction and the accelerating impacts of climate change, numerous ecosystems are on the brink and people’s livelihoods are at risk, yet investment in nature protection and climate action remains a tiny fraction of Commonwealth spending,” ACF Chief Executive Kelly O’Shanassy said.

“Even though 42 more species and ecosystems were added to the threatened species list in 2024 and a further 14 were moved to a category closer to extinction, less than one cent out of every dollar in this Budget is earmarked for nature protection and resilience.”

The federal Budget 2025–26 covers:

Nature

• No new funding to establish a national environment protection agency.
• No funding for the full reform of national nature protection laws (EPBC Act).
• No new funding for threatened species recovery, except for $3m from existing resources towards a Maugean skate captive breeding program.
• $250m over the forward estimates for the Saving Australia’s Bushland program to purchase high biodiversity value land, better protect degraded government land, establish new Indigenous Protected Areas and Indigenous Ranger programs, and private and state/government partnerships to protect high conservation value areas.
• $12m to deliver increased ocean protection over four years.
• $55.2m to renew lease arrangements with Traditional Owners of the jointly managed Booderee, Kakadu and Uluru-Kata Tjuta national parks.
• $11m to reduce the economic and environmental damage caused by feral animals, pests and weeds.

Energy transition

• $4.3bn in new net zero spending commitments which includes: $1bn over seven years (off budget) for the Green Iron Investment Fund; and $2bn towards the recapitalisation of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to invest in renewable energy and low emissions technology (the government already provided funding for this measure).

Stop funding fossil fuels

• $57.8bn for the Fuel Tax Credits scheme.

Climate resilience

• $28.4m to construct urgent additional coastal defences to protect vulnerable communities and infrastructure against climate disasters such as floods and erosion.
• $17.7m to support bushfire resilience activities in rural and regional Australia.
   

“While spending on all environment protection programs totals $9.4 billion over the forward estimates, a single fossil fuel subsidy, the notorious Fuel Tax Credits scheme — which encourages diesel fuel use and discourages innovation — is allocated $57.8 billion over the same period. This subsidy has increased by $13.6 billion across forward estimates,” O’Shanassy said. “The government is spending six times more on fossil fuel subsidies than it is investing to protect our precious environment. This is a disgrace.

“The Albanese government has made some good moves to invest in the energy transition, continuing to invest in clean manufacturing and green metals. Yet while Australia’s natural world faces a double whammy of climate change and an extinction crisis, this Budget offers little more than loose change.”

ACF’s full Budget submission can be found here.

Image credit: iStock.com/Ibrahim Akcengiz