Address to Bush Heritage Australia's Allies for Nature breakfast

***Check Against Delivery*** Thanks for the invitation to join you this morning, to speak about something I know we all care deeply about – the protection and restoration of nature. I’d like to start by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the lands we’re gathered on today, and the deep and abiding connection of First Nations peoples to Australia’s lands and waters.

I’d also like to recognise our hosts today – Bush Heritage Australia – who are a real leader when it comes to managing privately-protected land in this country. Our Government appreciates its partnership with Bush Heritage Australia on a number of projects across the country, which are helping to protect several threatened species. I know that one reason we’re all here today is because we all deeply value nature.

I don’t need to tell this group how important nature is - to support life on Earth, to provide the clean air, food, water, cultural value and recreation we need and the industries that drive our economy. But another reason we’re here today is that we all acknowledge that nature faces many challenges, both here in Australia, and overseas. And that collectively, we all need to do our bit to change the trajectory, for the better.

We understand the scale of that challenge. Biodiversity faces many threats, in particular from climate change, causing drier, hotter summers and warmer waters – with devastating impacts on our native plants and wildlife. But all is not lost, and I’m very pleased to work with all of you, to protect and restore Australia’s spectacular natural environment, and ensure that future development is sustainable.

When the Albanese Government was elected in 2022, after a decade of environmental denial and delay, we set out an ambitious agenda to put nature on a better path for the future. I’m pleased to say, a lot has been achieved since then. • Invested over $700 million in protecting nature and our urban rivers, creeks and streams, for native plants and animals. • Committed to no new extinctions and to protect 30 percent of our lands and oceans, with progress well on track. • Established the world’s first Nature Repair Market – and I’ll speak more about that in a minute. • Signed and ratified the High Seas Biodiversity Treaty, which will allow us to create new international marine parks. • Celebrated the dedication of 12 more Indigenous Protected Areas, adding more than 18 million hectares more to the National Reserve System. • And when it comes to climate change, we are making significant reductions to our greenhouse emissions and rapidly expanding our use of cleaner, cheaper renewable energy, having approved over 140 renewables projects since coming to office.

Of course my major focus since becoming Minister one year ago has been the passage of landmark reforms to our national environmental law, the EPBC Act. These were the first major reforms to the Act in 25 years and, as Graeme Samuel’s review found, the Act was fundamentally broken, failing the environment, business and the general community. These reforms were hard-fought and followed an enormous consultation process with environment groups, industry and thousands of community members.

A central principle of the reforms was the need for a balanced package, that delivered stronger environmental protections and faster project decision-making for business. Protecting what’s precious and powering productivity. There has been a lot of interest in the latter – the reforms that will speed up the assessment and approval of the homes, energy and critical minerals projects our nation needs.

That is an important outcome of the reforms, but so is the very positive impact they will have for our environment. Put simply, these reforms will deliver a huge shifting of the dial, from merely protecting the environment to restoring it and making it better. This will be achieved through a number of big changes, which are now being implemented, including: • Establishing Australia’s first National Environmental Protection Agency on 1 July – a strong, independent watchdog to improve environmental regulation and compliance. • Much tougher penalties for those who break environmental law, to deter and come down hard on those who do the wrong thing. • New National Environmental Standards, which set out clear environmental outcomes to be met, in the assessment and approval of referred projects. • Legislating, for the first time, the need to avoid and mitigate environmental impacts and to require offsets to deliver a net gain for the environment. • Lifting the exemption that existed under the Act, for land clearing and Regional Forest Agreements, meaning those activities will now be subject to Federal regulation, just like every other industry. • Expanding bioregional planning, which will guide development toward less environmentally sensitive areas. • Greater inclusion of First Nations cultural knowledge of land and sea country. • Establishing a Restoration Contribution Holder, to deliver landscape-scale environmental offsets through proponent financial contributions.

There is a clear opportunity for groups in this room to participate in the delivery of those landscape-scale offsets. • Piloting protection statements, a new tool to build on recovery plans and conservation advice to clearly set out what must be protected to ensure a species’ survival in the wild. I could go on, but you get the message. Just as I am determined to ensure these reforms speed up the delivery of those housing, energy and minerals projects we need, I am absolutely determined that the reforms drive that shift towards restoration that nature desperately needs.

Now, as many of you would know, Bush Heritage Australia and other non-government organisations are key partners when it comes to our Government’s ambitious biodiversity goals and targets, including the national target to protect 30 percent of land by 2030. Well-managed protected areas make a real difference to addressing the causes of biodiversity loss, such as habitat degradation, invasive species and climate change.

Right now, almost 25 per cent of Australia’s landmass is protected. We need another 39 million hectares protected or conserved in order to reach that 30 percent land target, and it will take a combination of government and private investment to get there. Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of joining the South Australian Premier and the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife, with whom we jointly funded the purchase of a 1900 hectare cattle station on Mundoo Island, which will now be added to the Coorong National Park.

We want to see more examples of this co-investment between government, private and non-government organisations, to deliver the nature protection we need. The Government remains committed to do our part, including through our $250 million Australian Bushland Program. That program includes: • partnerships with state and territory governments to expand and manage protected and conserved areas; • growing the Indigenous Protected Areas Program and; • contributing funding to help buy and protect key properties with high biodiversity value from willing sellers, focussing on areas with lower levels of protection.

To do this, we aim to partner with experienced organisations, and you should keep an eye out for an approach to market process on AusTender towards the end of this year. I’m pleased to say that this month’s Federal Budget also committed significant new funds to support further investment in nature conservation. New budget funding included a $37 million investment to support the expansion of the Nature Repair Market.

Just this week, I announced the registration of the second project under this market, which will see the restoration of native rainforest on a 20-hectare cattle grazing property in northern New South Wales. We expect that this market – which is a world first – will be further stimulated by the change made in the EPBC reforms, which will allow nature repair investments to be used as environmental offsets.

At the same time, we expect this change to add further rigour and environmental outcomes to what is achieved via the offsets process. We are also prioritising the development of two new methods for the Nature Repair Market to provide more opportunities for nature repair – the Enhancing Native Vegetation method and the Protect and Conserve method – so there are exciting times afoot.

The Budget also secured funding of around $110 million to extend the Saving Native Species program for the next two years and to continue investment in H5 bird flu preparedness efforts. This will safeguard and recover many of Australia’s most vulnerable animals and plants, and protect and recover our most biodiverse natural landscapes. I know that Bush Heritage Australia, and a range of other non-government organisations, have been active partners in projects funded under this program.

Now we have funding certainty, that great work can continue, which is a real boon for nature. I’ll leave it there for now, but as you can hopefully see, we have a big agenda to protect and restore Australia’s precious environment. Something that is the foundation of life on this continent and something we are known for, internationally.

And we look forward to working with the people in this room to make it happen. We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.