PROTECT OUR ENVIRONMENT, PROTECT OUR FUTURE
Canberra is different to the rest of the country. We’re progressive, we look after each other, and we take action on the issues that matter.
As the bush capital of Australia, we have a responsibility to lead the nation in fighting climate change and protecting our natural environment.
Working hand in hand with First Nations people, the ACT Greens have a plan to protect where we live, the water we drink, and our native ecosystems.
JUMP TO: Caring for the Bush Capital | Caring for Waterways | People Powered Sustainability | Shaping a Circular Economy
Caring for the Bush Capital
As the bush capital of Australia, we have a responsibility to lead the nation in fighting climate change and protecting our environment.
But at the moment, Canberra is home to a growing list of 72 threatened species which will only get bigger without drastic action.
For years, governments have only injected enough people money to starve off environmental collapse, but not enough to regenerate and restore habitat.
That's why the Greens will create a 'Bush Capital Restoration Fund' to support long-term, ambitious and science-led projects which don’t just protect our environment, but which actively restore and reconstruct long lost native habitat.
THE ACT GREENS WILL:
- Establish a Bush Capital Restoration Fund and contribute $50 million into this fund to support catchment health and environmental restoration programs
- Fund landscape-level habitat restoration, invasive species management, and connectivity to protect vulnerable species and stop any new species becoming endangered
- Expand reserves by protecting places of high ecological value such as Bluetts Block, Ainslie Volcanics and others all across Canberra
- Create an ecological framework to protect nature within our reserves and across other lease types, including farmland and public unleased land
- Build First Nations capacity and leadership to support joint environmental management of our reserves and waterways
- Strengthen environmental laws to deliver the best native habitat conservation and protection
Thriving Creeks, Rivers & Lakes
Water is the lifeblood of a healthy environment. The Greens will invest in the ACT’s living infrastructure to make Canberra an even more liveable city.
Rivers, creeks and lakes are an important part of what makes life in the ACT great — whether it’s a local pond or the Murrumbidgee River, these places of beauty add value to our lives.
But the growth of our city and climate change are both putting pressure on the health of local waterways. Caring for our catchments is more important than ever.
The ACT Greens have led a huge program of water quality improvements across the ACT that have enhanced biodiversity and made our city more liveable and beautiful in the process.
Our next plans will build on these achievements to deliver new wetlands, creek and river restoration projects, education programs and water quality research.
THE ACT GREENS WILL:
- Expand the Healthy Waterways program with an additional $50 million
- Support community catchment groups and Frogwatch by providing increased funding and certainty for four years
- Improve transparency and accountability by ensuring the Water Abstraction Charge on your water bill is spent on water management and improving catchment health
- Embed First Nations perspectives and knowledge in water management by creating two new dedicated First Nations positions in the Office of Water
- Restore the health of the upper Murrumbidgee River working with stakeholders, First Nations and governments to restore flows
- Improve water efficiency to save 6.36GL each year
PEOPLE POWERED SUSTAINABILITY
Community-led environmental volunteers are the lifeblood of the ACT’s efforts to protect, preserve and enhance the health of our beautiful environment.
As native habitats are torn up by climate change and construction on the outskirts of Canberra, the precious wildlife that rely on these habitats are being pushed to extinction.
Now more than ever, we need to give certainty to our environmental volunteers and recognise the crucial role they play in battling the environmental impacts of the climate crisis.
THE ACT GREENS WILL:
- Increase and secure long-term funding for environment groups to do their vital work
- Increase funding for the ACT’s Environmental Grants program and create a larger, long-term grant stream, enabling more ambitious and long-term conservation projects
- Open a first of its kind Sustainability Hub, which will provide a purpose-built and affordable home for many community organisations, including local environmental champions, educators, artists and enterprises
- Establish a new “Gardens for Wildlife” program that will support Canberrans to create wildlife friendly gardens
- Create an “Adopt a Patch” program to allow local neighbourhoods to adopt their local laneway, verges or similar public spaces to spruce them up as native habitatEstablish a new native plant nursery to provide stock for restoration projects, new employment, and free plants to Canberrans
Shaping a Circular Economy
Canberrans want to do the right thing by the planet. We get that endless consumption on a finite planet doesn’t work.
But it isn’t always easy. The cost of living pushes you to buy disposable things, the collapse of soft-plastic recycling forces you to chuck supermarket packaging in the bin, and not everyone has time or space to do their own composting.
The system puts all the blame and guilt on individuals. That’s why the Greens want to change the system and make it easier for people to live in a way that cares for our planet.
THE ACT GREENS WILL:
- Implement citywide food waste recycling by 2026
- Recycle all supermarket packaging by 2028
- Cut the damage of fast fashion by making manufacturers responsible for clothing waste
- Ensure end-of-life recycling is considered in any new government purchase of solar panels, EVs and large batteries
- Support circular economy businesses through ACT Government programs and a new grant scheme
- Improve government transparency around waste and recycling
- Renew our ban on incineration and oppose an incinerator in our region