2024-05-01
In August last year, a review into the NSW Biodiversity Conservation laws slammed the failure of laws to protect the environment. The Government committed to a whole of Government response, but 7 months on there is no sign of action or indication that the biodiversity crisis is a priority for the Minns Labor Government. The NSW Nature Alliance has today called out this failure by the Government on behalf of their 220 member groups and 250,000 supporters across the state, and demanded Premier Minns fulfil his election commitments.
Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment Sue Higginson said “The Minns Labor Government was elected, on promises that it would respond to the rapid decline of the environment in NSW. The Premier promised to fix the biodiversity scheme, stop runaway land clearing and establish the Great Koala National Park. Minns and his Labor Government have failed on all counts so far,”
“The failure of the Government to act on their promises, or to respond to scathing reports that demand change, is doing irreparable harm to their credibility in the eyes of the electorate and to the environment that they committed to protect,”
“I sat beside the now Minister for the Environment on the inquiry into the biodiversity offsets scheme in 2022, we heard the same evidence that the system had failed and that it was facilitating biodiversity loss rather than preventing it. That inquiry, alongside the review from last year, gave clear recommendations about what needed to arrest the extinction crisis, but Premier Minns has failed to prioritise any reforms,”
“The betrayal felt by the community and environmental organisations is visceral. Even the promise to establish the Great Koala National Park has been smashed by delay and undermined by the increased native forest logging that as been occurring within the proposed area since Labor was elected,”
“We will not sit by and wait any longer. I absolutely endorse and am somewhat relieved by the statements made by the NSW Nature Alliance today and join my voice to their calls for the Minns Labor Government to fulfil their promises and act on the necessary reforms to end the destruction of the environment in NSW,” Ms Higginson said.