Josh Burns MP
Climate Change
Bold new targets
One of Labor’s first acts in Government was legislating the Climate Change Act 2022, which enshrined our climate targets in law ...
- Net Zero by 2050
- 82% renewables by 2030
Our progress so far
- Approved enough renewable energy projects to power over 3 million homes
- Transitioned more than 25% of our energy grid to renewables
Becoming a renewable energy superpower
- The Capacity Investment Scheme will invest $65 billion to deliver an additional 32 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030
- As part of our Future Made in Australia Plan, we are investing $8 billion to kickstart Australia’s Green Hydrogen Industry
- The Rewiring the Nation program is investing $20 billion to modernise our energy grid and improve transmission infrastructure
- The Energy Industry Jobs Plan will invest $44.4 million to help transition fossil fuel industry workers, and $134.2 million for skills and employment support
Slashing emissions across transport and industry
- The New Vehicle Efficiency Standard will reduce transport emissions by more than 60% by 2030, and save motorists $95 billion in fuel costs by 2050
- The Safeguard Mechanism will require Australia’s largest greenhouse gas emitters to cut their CO2 emissions or face financial penalties
The Environment
Bold New Targets
- Protecting and conserving at least 30% of Australia’s land and sea by 2030
- Achieving zero new extinctions by 2030
- Delivering the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full and returning over 450 gigalitres of water to our natural environment
What We’ve Done So Far
- We’ve already protected an extra 40 million hectares of land and sea
- We’ve invested $262.3 million to support Commonwealth national parks and threatened species protection
- Under Labor, the Great Barrier Reef has been delisted by the World Heritage Committee as being ‘in danger’, thanks to a $1.2 billion in investment in the reef
- We’ve invested $200 million to restore natural wetlands and waterways in cities
- We’ve invested $1 billion to boost recycling capacity by over a million tonnes
Our Nature Positive Law Reforms
Labor’s first tranche of Nature Positive Law Reforms are now law.
- We’ve established the Nature Repair Market to reward landholders, conservation groups, farmers and First nations organisations for conservation work
- We’ve expanded the water trigger to allow the Minister to block unconventional gas projects which will have a significant impact on water resources
Labor’s second tranche of reforms are currently being blocked by the Coalition and the Greens in the Senate. These reforms would:
- Invest $121 million to establish Environment Protection Australia
- Invest nearly $100 million towards faster environmental approvals
- Establish a new independent Head of Environment Information Australia
The third tranche is under consultation and will:
- Repeal and replace the EPBC Act, which is woefully inadequate
- Establish a new incentive scheme for nature restoration
- Establish a new framework to protect Commonwealth reserves