The Albanese Labor Government is doing more than ever to protect the environment.

You can read about what we're doing here.

 

2024 Budget

The Albanese Labor Government is making significant investments to help better protect more of our natural world, fix more of what has been damaged, and care for the places we love.
 
Th 2024 Budget locks-in funding to establish Australia’s first national independent Environment Protection Agency, provides a big boost for Australia’s Antarctic research program, and gives extra support for world leading science on climate change and threatened species. 
 
Protecting more of our natural world
 
After a wasted decade the Liberals and Nationals left the environment, and the institutions that manage it, in a state of disrepair.
 
We’re working hard to undo that damage by investing around $307 million of nature positive improvements in our laws and institutions, including:

• $121 million for Australia’s first national independent Environment Protection Agency with strong new powers and penalties to better protect nature.
• $51.5 million for more accountability and transparency with new body called Environment Information Australia which will give the public and businesses easier access to the latest environmental data, release State of the Environment reports every two years, and report on progress on national environmental goals.
• $134.2 million to strengthen and streamline environmental approval decisions on priority projects, including renewables and critical minerals projects:
• $19.9 million to process assessments for priority renewable energy-related projects.
• $17.7 million to reduce the backlog and support administration of complex applications under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act, and progress the reform of Australia’s cultural heritage laws.
• $7 million for more support for staff to assess project proposals from business, and more tailored support to help business more effectively comply with environment law.
• $65.1 million for extra research into threatened species so sensitive areas can be more easily avoided and suitable projects can be more quickly approved based on robust, existing publicly available data.
• $24.5 million for better planning – working with state and territory governments – in seven priority regions so it’s clearer to business where complying development can more easily occur and where the ‘no go’ areas are.

This Budget provides urgent investment in Australia’s research capabilities to better protect our natural world.
 
We’ve secured Australia’s position as a global scientific leader by investing $371.1 million over nine years from 2024-25 to rebuild and upgrade our research station on World Heritage listed Macquarie Island. Boosting our capacity to monitor climate and greenhouse gas emissions, and accurately forecast droughts and rainfall, means we will better protect nature and Australian livelihoods.
 
The Albanese Government is also expanding our Antarctic science program. This includes an additional $17.6 million over two years to enable the Nuyina, Australia’s icebreaking research vessel, to undertake more expeditions for scientific research, including its first dedicated marine science voyage to the Denman Glacier. If this glacier melts, sea levels could rise by 1.5 metres – making this research trip more important than ever.
 
Fixing more of what’s been damaged
 
We don’t just want to protect our environment – we are working hard to fix what’s broken.
 
Last year, the Albanese Government passed critical legislation to set up the world’s first nature repair market – driving business and philanthropic investment in nature repair and threatened species protection. The Budget locks in $35.6 million over two years from 2024-25 to continue developing the processes and systems needed to administer the scheme.
 
This builds on the Government’s more than $500 million investment to better protect our threatened species, such as koalas, quolls and Australian sea lions, and crack down on feral animals and weeds.
 
Working hard to care for the places we love
 
Australians love our bush and our oceans and want to be able to protect them for their kids and grandkids.    
 
Last year we doubled funding to better look after national parks, including Kakadu and Uluṟu, after the Liberals let them fall apart. This Budget reinforces our extra funding.
 
But caring for the places we love is not just about nature protection. It also means reducing our environmental footprint and making the most of Australia’s precious natural resources.
 
That’s why we’re driving Australia’s transition to a circular economy - cutting down on plastics, reducing waste, and supporting households and industry to recycle or repurpose more materials.
 
In this Budget, we’re investing $23 million in 2024-25 to develop a new national circular economy framework, continue to tackle problematic waste streams, such as packaging, and get on with the development of a much-needed new recycling scheme for solar panels.

Expanding our Marine Parks

The Albanese Government is proposing to more than quadruple the protected oceans around Australia’s Heard and McDonald Islands.

Heard Island and McDonald Islands are remote subantarctic islands located around 4,000km southwest of Western Australia and 1,700km north of Antarctica. They are World Heritage listed and are home to penguins, seals, whales and albatross.

This is another huge win for ocean protection. The proposal recommends expanding this marine reserve by over 300,000 km2 – an area larger than Italy and almost 90% of Australian territory around the islands. This proposal would increase Australia’s marine protected areas to more than half of Australian oceans.

The proposed expansion would extend protections over important marine environments, and help protect globally significant habitat for endangered seabirds and seals. 

The proposed expansion also allows for the continuation of the sustainable fishing industry at Heard and McDonald Islands.

In the Budget, the Government committed an extra $17.6 million for targeted marine science and environmental management voyages in the Southern Ocean, including a planned management visit to Heard Island and McDonald Islands in 2025-26.

Statutory consultation on the proposal to expand Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve starts today and closes on Thursday 5 September 2024.

Last year the Albanese Government tripled the size of Macquarie Island Marine Park – another sub-Antarctic wildlife wonderland. This was the largest contribution to ocean conservation anywhere in the world in 2023.

The Government is also progressing ratification of the High Seas Biodiversity Treaty as part of our global commitment to better protect the world’s oceans. The Treaty, tabled in the Parliament last week, will help to establish marine protected areas on the high seas, which will complement Australia’s own network of domestic marine parks.

Water security

The Albanese Labor Government is safeguarding Australia’s precious water resources for the communities, industries and environments that rely on them.
 
In the 2024-25 Budget, we are investing in crucial infrastructure projects to ensure that people have clean drinking water, farmers have water to grow our food and fibre, and we deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
 
Delivering water security
 
All Australians, no matter where they live, have the right to safe, reliable water.
 
In Australia, more than 600,000 people living in regional and remote communities don’t have access to water that meets recognised standards.
 
That’s why we’re investing $140.4 million in construction projects, including for agriculture, town water supplies and water recycling. This includes $20.7 million for ten new water infrastructure construction projects in regional and remote First Nations communities. 
 
To make sure future construction projects stack up economically and environmentally, we’re investing $34.3 million in 22 business cases and scientific research projects. This will help us to make more informed investment decisions, and better understand our water resources and the technologies we use to manage them.
 
The Great Artesian Basin is the country’s largest groundwater system and it’s a lifeline for towns and farmers in central Australia during the dry times. Industries that rely on this precious water source contribute $33.2 billion per year to Australia’s economy. We are investing $32 million in this Basin to deliver vital on-ground water security projects, fix or replace hundreds of flowing or leaky bores, and install new pipes for up to 4,560 kilometres of open bore drains, securing about 104 gigalitres or 41,600 Olympic swimming pools of water.
 
Delivering the Murray-Darling Basin Plan
 
Basin communities were let down by the Coalition who blocked water recovery, tied up programs in impossible rules, and ignored expert advice. We’ve changed all that.
 
Since passing the Restoring our Rivers legislation last year to deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full, we are now getting on with it.
 
This Budget will see more options and more funding added to our water recovery toolbox. An additional $27 million has been committed to expand the Resilient Rivers Water Infrastructure Program to allow more water savings projects to be developed.
 
There is also an extra $7.2 million for the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to deliver the Constraints Relaxation Implementation Roadmap by the end of the year. We are helping Basin states to manage the flow of the rivers, including by building bridges, culverts, and other infrastructure, to minimise damage from low level flooding. Our investment will also help boost involvement of First Nations people in Basin water management.
 
Restoring trust in the water system
 
We’re building trust in the Murray-Darling Basin, making sure the water market has strong rules against insider trading and requirements for proper record keeping.
 
With an extra $28.6 million, the Inspector-General of Water Compliance will be better equipped to ensure people don’t take more water out of our rivers than they’re allowed to.
 
That’s on top of $5.7 million to ensure the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, as the incoming Basin water market conduct regulator, is resourced to carry out its new water market integrity functions. This includes enforcing compliance with insider trading and market manipulation rules.
 
The Albanese Government continues to invest in, protect and restore the country’s water resources – which is good for the environment, communities, businesses, and all Australians.

A massive investment in renewable energy

The Albanese Government will deliver more reliable electricity to all Australians through the expansion of the existing Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) and the National Energy Transformation Partnership (NETP), in conjunction with the states.

This investment will supercharge available power in the energy grid, delivering the long-term reliable, affordable and low-emissions energy system Australians deserve as our grid changes. 

Under the last Government, 24 coal plants with a total capacity of 26.7 GW announced their closure dates, but the LNP failed to deliver any policy to ensure replacement capacity.

This dangerous and irresponsible approach– including their failure to deliver a capacity scheme - is one of the reasons Australia's grid could face a difficult summer.

In contrast, the Albanese Government’s CIS underwrites new renewable generation and storage, providing certainty for renewable investors and cheaper, cleaner energy for households and businesses. It also recoups money for taxpayers when revenues are high.

This expansion will take the CIS from the current pilot stage to 9 GW of dispatchable capacity and 23 GW of variable capacity nationally – for a total of 32 GW nationally.

This is equivalent to around half the current National Electricity Market (NEM) with its nearly 11 million customers. 

Today’s announcement follows the success of the first CIS pilot auction in New South Wales. The successful projects announced yesterday will deliver more than 1 GW of dispatchable power across the state.  

The expected costs of CIS contracts are not-for-publication to ensure that reverse auctions achieve the best bang for buck for taxpayers.

To ensure the rollout is orderly and coordinated, the Commonwealth will also negotiate bilateral agreements with states and territories under the existing NETP.

States will be asked to work with the Commonwealth to ensure renewables are rolled out and reliability is enhanced through objective benchmarks, an orderly transition, and potential strategic reserves.

Around half of the capacity offered under the expanded CIS (18 of 32 GW) will be subject to these agreements. Capacity may be re-allocated from any jurisdictions that don't make agreements to those that do.

The Commonwealth will also consider barriers to renewable investment such as workforce and supply chain constraints.

The same LNP that had 22 failed energy policies in Government now has none - just a risky all-in bet on small modular reactors that are unproven, too slow and too expensive.

In contrast the Albanese Government is delivering reliable, cleaner, more affordable electricity and a system Australia can count on - good for families, good for business and powering Australian manufacturing into the future.

Funding to better protect nature and communities from bushfires

As another hot, dry summer approaches, the Government is investing $13.2 million to help local organisations, farmers and landholders better protect native plants, animals and agricultural land against natural disasters like bushfires.

Australians know how devastating bushfires are for communities, but they are also an environmental disaster. During the Black Summer Bushfires, more than 8 million hectares was burnt, including damage to 54 per cent of the World Heritage Listed Gondwana Rainforests. Nearly three billion animals were estimated to have been killed or displaced, and some threatened species pushed dangerously close to extinction.

That’s why the Government is supporting local communities and farmers to deliver emergency preparedness and response projects ahead of the 2023-24 severe weather season.

This is about better understanding the threats, acting to protect nature before disaster strikes, and equipping our emergency services to be able to respond effectively.

The funding will support a network of Natural Resource Management (NRM) Regional Delivery Partners to undertake prevention activities like removing highly flammable weeds or pest control, map key agricultural and environmental assets such as critical habitat of threatened species and develop emergency response plans to protect and reduce threats to these assets.

Mapping these environmental assets is critical. We can’t protect what we don’t know is there, and when decisions are being made rapidly we want to have the right information to help our emergency services make informed decisions.

We’re still feeling the effects of the Black Summer Bushfires, with another 25 species given higher levels of protection under national environment law just this week due to the impact of fire. This includes the Broad-toothed rat, which had 70-90% of its habitat affected by the fires.

This project will help identify where the last remaining pockets of species at risk from fires and floods exist, such as the Western Ground Parrot and the Mount Imlay Mallee. It will mean groups can act now to carry out projects such as establishing insurance populations and managing weeds, feral cats and feral foxes.

More importantly, by community groups, landholders, First Nations people, and governments working together to share and integrate this information, emergency services will be able to use that knowledge to act to protect species when a fire threatens an area.

This is another important step in building on the lessons of the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires.

Since then, over 800 affected species and ecosystems have had rapid assessments to understand the impact of fires on them, with more than 100 being given new protection under national environment law. The government has also invested $200 million in resilience and recovery actions, delivering 5.7 million hectares of pest animal control; 40,000 hectares of weed control; 1,000 hectares of erosion control and 2,900 structures to create nesting boxes and habitat shelters. More than 25,000 hectares of fire management actions have been undertaken to reduce the impact of future fires.

Funding to better protect nature and communities from bushfires

The Albanese Government is lowering household power bills and boosting reliability in the electricity grid with the roll out of more than 420 community batteries across the country.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is set to support up to 370 community batteries as part of Round 1 of its Community Batteries Fund, an increase from the original number of 342 thanks to an overwhelming response to its Expression of Interest process.

The Government is on track to deliver more than 420 community batteries across every State and Territory, including 58 community batteries already in the pipeline by Department of Industry, Science and Resources, through the Business Grants Hub. This exceeds the original election commitment of the Albanese Government to deliver 400 batteries under the Community Batteries for Household Solar program.

The program will provide shared storage for up to 100,000 households, empowering communities to all reap the benefits of the renewable energy transformation.

While one in three Australian households have already embraced rooftop solar and are accessing cleaner and cheaper energy, less than 1 in 40 households have battery storage.

ARENA sought applications for up to $20 million funding to deploy a minimum of five community batteries, each between 50 kW and 5 MW in size and connected to a distribution network.

ARENA has conditionally approved, subject to finalisation, funding of $143 million to support the 370 community batteries. This is expected to unlock $359 million of investment in renewable energy infrastructure. All battery locations will be subject to finalisation of commercial agreements, planning approvals and community engagement.

$100 million to drive down energy costs and scale up solar innovation

The Albanese Government is investing up to $100 million in a global industry challenge aimed at lowering costs and unlocking a larger Australian solar industry, helping transform Australia into a renewable energy superpower.

Through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), the government is supporting the Solar ScaleUp Challenge to stimulate innovation in how solar farms are deployed and operated.

ARENA is calling on innovators, customers, financiers and anyone involved in construction, operation or maintenance in the solar sector to get involved in the challenge, which will be open for 8 weeks.

The challenge will make use of an online innovation platform through which participants can submit proposed ideas and projects. If shortlisted, participants could gain access to a total pool of $100 million in grant funding from ARENA to explore their projects further.

The international challenge is part of ARENA’s vision to reduce the installed cost of a solar project to just 30 cents per watt and reduce the cost of electricity to below $20 per megawatt hour by 2030.

ARENA’s Solar ScaleUp Challenge will help to bring together teams who can break new ground in our quest for more affordable solar energy on a massive scale.

Information about ARENA’s Solar ScaleUp Challenge including submission requirements and deadlines is available at Solar ARENA | Greenhouse Challenge.

 

Driving down emissions in heavy industry

Australian industries are being supported to cut more than 1 million tonnes of climate pollution a year with a $91 million investment under the Powering the Regions Fund from the Albanese Government.

Following a $330 million investment in 9 projects in April this year, the Powering the Regions Fund is supporting 6 new projects to help significantly cut emissions from some of Australia’s largest emitters. Each dollar of support will unlock two dollars of industry investment in these projects.

The projects will lower energy use, swap out fossil fuels with cleaner alternatives and cut more than 1 million tonnes of climate pollution each year, the equivalent to taking over 240,000 cars off our roads.

These include projects in the aluminium, mining, fuel refining and chemical production industries, which will create new jobs and support existing jobs in regional communities across Australia.

The six grants include:

• $37.2 million to reduce ventilation methane emissions at Kestrel Coal in the Bowen Basin, Qld
• $28 million for a solar and battery storage system at Incitec Pivot Fertilisers in Phosphate Hill, Qld
• $9.8 million to deploy emissions capture technologies at the Dyno Nobel ammonium nitrate facility in the Bowen Basin, Qld
• $7.5 million to install a low emission waste gas incinerator at CSBP Limited’s sodium cyanide plant in Kwinana, WA
• $5.4 million for energy efficiency upgrades at the Boyne Aluminium Smelter in Gladstone, Qld
• $3 million for electrification at the Viva Energy Refinery in Geelong, Vic.

 

 

And this is just some of what we're doing. To see more, visit https://minister.dcceew.gov.au/