QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator WATT (Queensland—Minister for the Environment and Water) (14:31): Thanks, Senator Pocock. Well, I haven't verified that figure, and I'd want to make sure that it does truly reflect the broad range of funding programs that exist, not just in my department but in a range of other departments of this government, that go towards protecting biodiversity. In addition to those funding programs, as I've mentioned, we've reformed our environmental laws.

We've put in place targets around protecting 30 per cent of— Senator Henderson interjecting— Senator WATT: I'm not sure, Senator Henderson, if you'd really want to be talking about extinct species. But this government has laws, has policies, has funding programs in place towards the preservation and restoration of biodiversity, and I'm sure that a range of those programs will exist post-budget.