Portfolio — 15 June 2026

The minister announced on 15 June that McCoys Creek Wetland on the Gold Coast has been designated Australia's second Conserved Area under the National Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) Framework — the first such designation to be managed by a local government authority, in this case the City of Gold Coast [TA-260615-climat-82c906f7b626].

The 146-hectare site provides habitat for several threatened species, including the tusked frog, water mouse, and koala, and sits within the Northern Koala Corridor [TA-260615-climat-82c906f7b626]. The OECMs Framework allows sites managed outside the formal protected area system to count toward Australia's international commitment to protect 30 per cent of land by 2030, alongside instruments such as Indigenous Protected Areas.

This designation arrives two days after the dedication of the Mimal Indigenous Protected Area on 13 June, and together the two announcements illustrate the portfolio's strategy of diversifying conservation delivery mechanisms — moving beyond Indigenous land management to incorporate local government stewardship as a recognised pathway to the 30x30 target. The sequencing signals a deliberate pattern: the minister is building the case that the 30 per cent commitment can be met through a coalition of delivery models rather than a single land-tenure approach.

No parliamentary activity was on record for this date, so the picture is drawn entirely from the ministerial media release; how the opposition has responded to either the OECMs Framework or the 30x30 target trajectory is not captured in available records.