Here are some of the achievements of our Government for Environment and Water:
Protecting special places
We’ve protected an extra 70 million hectares of Australia’s beautiful land and sea – an area bigger than Germany and Italy combined – with more to come.
We’ve kept the Great Barrier Reef off the World Heritage ‘in danger’ list by better protecting it with a $1.2 billion investment and doubling funding for the marine scientists who look after it.
We’ve blocked Clive Palmer’s big Queensland coal mine that could have leached pollution onto the Great Barrier Reef.
We’ve doubled funding to better look after national parks including Kakadu and Uluṟu – after the former government let them fall apart.
We’re World Heritage listing more of Australia’s most special natural treasures such as Cape York, the Flinders Ranges and Murujuga in WA. We’re protecting our special places for years to come.
We stopped Jabiluka from being mined from uranium – and will add it to Kakadu National Park instead.
We saved Toondah Harbour from destruction. The Labor Government is protecting internationally important wetlands.
We’ve invested nearly $1.5 billion in our Antarctic program.
We’ve added Watarrka National Park in the NT and the Beechworth Administrative Precinct in Victoria to Australia’s National Heritage List to better preserve our history for generations to come.
Ocean protection
We protect more ocean than any other country on earth, with more than half of Australian waters under protection.
We’ve tripled the size of Macquarie Island Marine Park, the biggest act of environmental conservation anywhere in the world in 2023.
We’ve quadrupled the size of Heard and McDonald Islands Marine Park, the biggest act of ocean conservation on the planet in 2024.
We’ve signed an international treaty to better protect oceans.
We are fighting to protect an extra billion hectares of ocean around Antarctica.
First Nations leadership
We’re ensuring First Nations people are at the forefront of conservation efforts.
We’ve invested $1.3 billion to support the successful Indigenous Ranger Program, including doubling the number of rangers who help manage the feral animals and weeds killing our native species.
We’ve expanded our world-leading Indigenous Protected Areas with a $230 million investment and by establishing 12 new IPAs that cover an area bigger than Tasmania.
Water security and protection
We’re rescuing the Murray-Darling – delivering 180,000 Olympic swimming pools of water to help stop the rivers dying and securing drinking water for 3 million people.
We’re restoring rivers and waterways in our cities, with a $200 million investment to transform concrete drains into natural creeks with plants and animals.
We’re securing Australia’s water supply so we reduce waste and better cope in the dry years, with a $3 billion investment in new and upgraded water storage, treatment plants, bores, pump stations and pipelines.
Circular economy
We’re increasing recycling by more than 1.3 million tonnes a year and stopping paper and soft and difficult to recycle plastics from going to landfill.
We’ve launched Australia’s first ever Environmentally Sustainable Procurement Policy to generate strong local demand for recycled goods, cut waste and drive Australia’s transition to a circular economy.
We’re supporting The Great Unwaste campaign to help Australian households cut their food waste – saving food, saving money, and saving the planet.
Global leadership
We’re pushing for a new treaty to end plastic pollution worldwide by 2040.
We hosted the world’s first Global Nature Positive Summit (which got a shout out from The King on his recent visit) to drive collective action and private investment in nature protection and repair.
We’re establishing the world’s first nature repair market to make it easier to invest in nature restoration.
We’ve introduced legislation with a world-first definition of nature positive, helping us to measure how we are repairing and regenerating nature.
Stronger laws and enforcement
We’ve more than doubled on-time environmental approvals, on average.
We’ve reviewed offsets and taken compliance action when promises have not been kept.
We’re setting up Australia’s first Environment Protection Agency with strong new powers and penalties – a tough new cop on the beat.
We’ve passed strong laws to force big polluters to cut emissions, so Australia gets to net zero carbon pollution by 2050.
We’ve boosted environment laws with a stronger ‘water trigger’ to make sure the impacts of gas projects on water are considered – helping to better protect our water for drinking and farming.
We’ve passed strong laws to protect the ozone layer.
We’ve delivered Australia’s first national environmental chemicals standards – banning or ensuring the safety of 900 industrial chemicals, including ‘forever chemicals’ such as PFOS, PFOA and PFHxS from 1 July 2025.
We’re advancing strong new laws to make sure packaging is designed to be reused, recycled or reprocessed – so it doesn’t end up in landfill, floating in our oceans or choking animals.
We’re fighting the scourge of feral animals – like cats, feral horses, pigs and goats – that are killing native species such as platypus, echidnas and bilbies.
We’re cracking down on the cruel illegal trade of Australian native plants and animals, using world-leading technology to intercept smuggled animals at the border and rehabilitate them.
Renewables
We’re moving away from old forms of energy to cheaper, cleaner renewables.
In just two years, we’ve ticked off more than 60 renewable projects – enough to power more than seven million homes.
We approved one of the largest renewable energy projects in the world. The SunCable project will generate enough energy to power three million homes.
The renewable energy projects we’ve ticked off will produce more energy than 12 of Peter Dutton’s nuclear reactors could hope to produce. And they’re being built now – not in 20 years’ time.
We’re ticking off renewable projects at record rates – an average of one new project every fortnight.
Collective action
Government has a big role to play in protecting and restoring nature – but we can’t do it alone. From individuals to communities to businesses, all of us can help protect our wildlife, the great outdoors and Australia’s famous lifestyle.
It’s easier than we think to do our bit for nature. Whether it’s recycling more or planting trees, even small changes today can have big payoffs in the future.
Jobs and economy
If nature’s thriving, so will business, and so will our economy.
More than 75 per cent of Australia’s exports and nearly 50 per cent of our economy depend on nature.
Up to five million Australians have jobs that depend on nature, like farming or tourism – that’s one in three workers.
We’re continuing to work with industry and governments to maximise economic opportunities and create jobs in areas such as recycling, water management and land care.
