THE HON TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER
MEDIA RELEASE
Friday 6 December 2024
City cleanup: $108 million to transform urban waterways
Concrete drains and polluted streams in Australian suburbs will be transformed into thriving creeks and wetlands for plants and animals, including the iconic platypus.
The Albanese Labor Government is backing 57 projects that are breathing new life into urban rivers thanks to a $108 million investment.
Conservation projects are co-funded and delivered by First Nations groups, community groups, governments, natural resource management organisations, universities and water corporations.
More than 3 hectares of native oyster reefs in Sydney’s Georges River estuary will be restored thanks to a $2 million boost. Overfishing and disease has decimated the oyster population.
But The Nature Conservancy will work to revive colonies that provide shelter and habitat for fish, filter water, and prevent coastal erosion.
Rivers that are home to platypus and threatened species across Victoria will be better protected with a $9.6 million investment. The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action will clean up the damaging impacts of stormwater and improve water flows at 14 river ecosystems.
Murdoch University will remove carp and goldfish from wetlands in and around Perth to draw back native fish populations with a more than $416,000 grant.
The Friends of Lane Cove National Park will receive $376,500 to blitz invasive weeds and rehabilitate the Lane Cove River corridor in Sydney, home to the White-bellied Sea-eagle, Glossy Black-Cockatoo and Long-nosed Bandicoot.
The new round two projects are part of the Government’s $200 million Urban Rivers and Catchments Program. Dozens of projects have already been announced under round one.
Quotes attributable to the Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek:
“We want to leave nature better off for our kids and grandkids – and that’s why we’re restoring rivers and waterways in our suburbs with a $200 million investment.
“Nearly half of all nationally listed threatened animals and a quarter of our threatened plants are in urban areas, home to 96 per cent of Australia’s population.
“And with so many native plants and animals reliant on our rivers, creeks, wetlands, and estuaries, protecting and restoring the health of our waterways is essential.
“This critical funding is good news for native wildlife and the community – improving the quality of the urban spaces that we all share and love.”
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