Australia Cuts Nature Budget to 0.04% by 2028
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- Albanese government is set to cut environmental funding from 0.06% to less than 0.04% of the federal budget by 2028-29, despite 96% of surveyed Australians wanting more nature action and 76% wanting at least 1% of the budget for conservation
- EPBC reform bill passed in December 2025 via a deal with the Greens, but only two national environmental standards have been released for consultation and none have been finalized
- Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water quietly dropped the phrase "clear demonstrable outcomes for regulated activities" from its website between January 2023 and April 2025, replacing it with language about "business demands" and helping "decision-makers be fair and consistent"
- Biodiversity market register shows just one listed project with zero biodiversity certificates issued after tens of millions were spent on policy development, with a further $36.9m allocated in the budget for the nature repair market and biodiversity offsets
- Experts in biodiversity and environmental law found major flaws in the draft national standard for matters of national environmental significance, which covers threatened species, world heritage properties, wetlands of international importance, and the Great Barrier Reef
- Over three in four Australians lack strong trust in any political party or candidate to protect the environment, undermining public confidence in the EPBC reform process and the new National Environmental Protection Agency's enforcement capacity
Why it matters: With 96% of Australians wanting more environmental action but funding dropping to 0.04% of the budget, the Albanese government is moving opposite to public sentiment. The stalled national standards leave the new Environmental Protection Agency unable to assess proposals or enforce protections, while $36.9m more flows to a market with zero certificates issued.
