Speech to the 9th National NRM Knowledge Conference

Good afternoon.

I’d like to start by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land on which we’re gathering, and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging.

Thanks for having me here today - it’s great to have the opportunity to speak to you about what we can all be doing to meet the challenges facing our stunning natural environment.

I’m really pleased to reconnect with Australia’s NRM network, after getting to know many of you, in my former role as the Agriculture Minister.

In that role, I saw the great work you do, to work with land and water managers, communities and industries across Australia to support healthy ecosystems and communities.

I understand this is the first time in three years that the whole sector has had the opportunity to physically get together from across the country - sharing and learning.

I hear that you've been grappling with how the sector, and you, adapt to climate change and increasing extreme events.

We appreciate your dedication and passion in the face of this - your work helps increase the resilience of the environment and people.

So I’m very excited to working with you again, in my new role as Environment and Water Minister.

I think most would agree that nature is facing significant challenges globally, including here in Australia.

Historically, this country has the unenviable record of being the world’s mammal extinction capital.

Driven by land clearing and habitat loss, we are losing biodiversity at an alarming rate.

Many national parks and areas of high biodiversity value are affected by introduced species like feral cats, deer, rabbits and pigs, who prey on – and compete with – native species for resources.

And climate change is only making things worse, causing drier and warmer summers – with devastating impacts on our native plants and wildlife.

Warming oceans are placing unprecedented stress on our reefs and the fragile ecosystems they support.

And extreme weather events are pushing our natural environment and vulnerable species to the brink.

That’s why our government is acting to tackle the challenges nature faces.

Not only by dramatically reducing our emissions and transitioning to cleaner energy sources, but through actions focused on nature restoration.

In our first term, we embarked on an ambitious agenda to turn the tide on extinctions and habitat loss and begin to restore damaged and degraded landscapes.

Together with State and Territory Governments, we updated Australia’s Strategy for Nature which sets ambitious targets to tackle the drivers of biodiversity decline, protect and repair our precious places and put nature on a path to recovery.

Now, we need to deliver and today, I am pleased to launch consultation on an implementation plan for the Strategy for Nature.

You can participate in that consultation through my department’s website, and I invite comment from the NRM sector, and the public, to help shape this plan.

The overarching goal of the strategy – in line with the commitment we made at the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Conference – is to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

A key target is to protect 30 percent of land and 30 percent of sea by 2030.

I’m incredibly pleased that we have already exceeded the target for protecting 30 percent of our ocean, with the intention of 30 percent of our ocean being “highly protected” by 2030.

When it comes to our land target, we have more to do, but one step we’ve taken is to add more Indigenous Protected Areas to Australia’s National Reserve System.

These are areas rich in natural values, cultural heritage and spiritual connection for First Nations People, and we plan to add even more.

Another important step we are taking towards our land target is the delivery of the new Australian Bushland Program, announced in this year’s Federal Budget.

This program will invest an extra $250 million into growing our protected areas and it’s informed by the principles, criteria and pathways in the National 30 by 30 Roadmap.

Through this program, we’ll help organisations who have land care and environmental expertise to identify and buy land with high biodiversity value.

I recently wrote to my State counterparts seeking their engagement and I expect to have more to say about that later this year.

Another key driver for conservation is the Threatened Species Action Plan.

The Plan is guiding the protection, management and restoration of Australia’s threatened species and important natural areas, with the ambitious goal of no new extinctions.

As well as prioritising 110 species, the Action Plan contains 20 priority places where landscape-scale action, backed by Federal funding, is helping multiple threatened species and ecological communities.

One of these priority places is the Eastern Forests of Far North Queensland, and it’s great to hear that some of you will be visiting sites tomorrow where threatened species recovery action is well underway.

We do, though, recognise that governments alone cannot solve this challenge.

We need landholders and the private sector to also be invested in the protection and restoration of nature.  

I recently announced, jointly with Queensland, the first “Conserved Area” under a new Conservation Measures Framework.

This is a new way of recognising and protecting areas with high biodiversity values where conservation is not necessarily the primary land use objective.

This area, a farming property in Queensland’s Western Downs, is privately owned and boasts ecologically rich eucalypt and cypress woodlands and provides important habitat for threatened species like the koala, yakka skink and glossy black cockatoo.

It’s a great example of new forms of conservation, and I’m confident that more of these conserved areas will be established soon.

We’ve also established the world’s first Nature Repair Market to help farmers, First Nations People and conservation groups to attract investment in projects that improve landscapes in ways that support biodiversity.

Last month the very first project was registered under the scheme.

It’s a cattle grazing property in the North-East of NSW which is planting trees and shrubs to recreate local native ecosystems.

The 438-hectare project is equivalent to 600 footy fields.

Projects like these enable landholders to get the most out of their land - boosting biodiversity alongside agricultural production.

There are people from my department here at the conference demonstrating the PLANR tool – which allows you to map out potential projects for this emerging market.

You can also list potential projects on the Marketplace to attract investors.  

I hope investors and land managers can take inspiration from this first project and start thinking how they can get involved.

Of course, a critical way our Government gives effect to its environmental agenda is through practical Natural Resource Management action, including at a regional level.

This includes the funding we’re delivering through the Natural Heritage Trust, the Urban Rivers and Catchments Program and the Saving Native Species Program.

These programs are protecting and recovering threatened species, World Heritage properties, Ramsar wetlands and Indigenous Protected Areas.

Activities are delivered in partnership with farmers, communities, state, territory and local governments, First Nations Peoples, researchers and, of course, NRM organisations.

As we look to the next phase of the Natural Heritage Trust which starts in 2028, we will carefully consider how to get the most out of NRM.

An important part of this work will be to draw on the knowledge, information and data we have obtained under the current phase of the NHT, to properly target future investments to where they are needed most.

I want to acknowledge the terrific work of NRM organisations, whether they be working with land, estuarine or coastal ecosystems.

Just in this region alone, we are seeing important projects to keep more spectacled flying-foxes alive through monitoring programs and controlling the invasive weeds that paralyse them.

Or to improve habitat for threatened species like gliders and frogs by combatting feral pigs and restoring native grasses and wet eucalypt forests.

Or by collaborating with farmers and Traditional Owners to improve the water quality of the Great Barrier Reef.

We know a key contributor to poor water quality on the Reef is sediment and agricultural run-off, which is why the programs being delivered are accelerating efforts to repair land and reduce sediment, nutrient and pesticide run-off and rehabilitate Reef wetland habitats.

Some of you might be going to see similar work being done in catchment areas tomorrow.

More broadly, my major priority to support Australia’s nature is reforming our national environment law, the EPBC Act.

The urgency of this task was highlighted recently by former Treasury Secretary Ken Henry – who chairs my Nature Finance Council - and other leaders in the business and environment movement at the Government’s recent economic reform roundtable.

As a product of the 90s, the Act is not fit for purpose. It is failing the environment, failing business and failing all Australians.

The public debate on these reforms has had an understandable focus on the need to deliver quicker and more efficient development assessment and approval processes.

And that is certainly a key aim of the reforms – the current EPBC processes, combined with those of states and territories, are too slow, too cumbersome and are holding back the housing, renewable and other projects Australia desperately needs.

That’s why yesterday I announced that the reforms will include amendments that facilitate better regional planning, providing clearer guidance on “go zones” and “no go zones” for development in specific regions.

But as vital as improvements to project approvals are, what’s had less attention of late is the equally strong imperative that these laws deliver for nature.

After all, we’re talking about an Act that has the words “Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation” in its title.

As I mentioned at the top of this speech, our natural environment is under incredible stress.

So a key plank of these reforms will be not just managing the decline of nature but turning that decline around and restoring our environment.

Key to this is the development of strong National Environmental Standards, as recommended by Professor Graeme Samuel in his five-year-old review.

Work is underway on these standards, alongside the drafting of the legislation itself.

Because those standards will not only be used to assess development proposals, but will also guide the actions we take across the spectrum to protect and restore nature.

And those standards are critical – to protecting our environment and giving business clear guidance, at an early stage, as to whether projects will, or will not, be acceptable.

There’s a lot more to be done, before we introduce these laws to the Parliament before the end of the year.

But nature cannot wait, just as business cannot wait, so we’re working at breakneck speed to get these important reforms done.

I’ll leave it there for today, but I’d like to wrap up by again thanking you all for your commitment and for the excellent work you do to manage and restore nature across this beautiful country.

It's an honour to be here and recognise that Australia regionalised NRM 25 years ago, the only country in the world.

We're excited about what's next - and what will be achieved over the next 25 years.

Like all of you, I want to look back and know that I left nature better off than I found it.

Because the places and species we love need our help, now more than ever.

Thank you.