Liberal Budget Another Shocker for Tasmania’s Environment and Climate 

Tasmanians don’t want a government that stands on the sidelines and watches our climate get hotter, and native species be driven to extinction. Yet this State Budget shows the Liberals have business-as-usual for big corporations and developers as their major priority. There is no response to the biodiversity and climate crises of our time.

The Liberals’ budget continues to subsidise our mendicant native forestry industry. Every day this industry is destroying precious carbon-storing forests and the threatened species that live in them. Meanwhile, this budget allocates the same amount of funds this year to managing the 650 threatened species in this state as they do to an absurd Chocolate Fountain. It’s shameful.

From next year, the Liberals are completely cutting funding to track the Orange-bellied parrot. Time will tell whether we’ll see the extinction of iconic Tasmanian species like the swift parrot, Tasmanian devil, or Maugean skate on the Rockliff Government’s watch.

This is another State Budget where Liberal politicians have put their corporate mates ahead of Tasmanians. The forestry, aquaculture and mining industries continue to trash our environment without even paying their fair share of taxes and royalties.

This budget fails to meet the reality of our climate future.

In recent weeks, Tasmanians have suffered from flooding and severe winds. These kinds of extreme weather events are only going to worsen as carbon emissions continue to drive climate heating. Yet there is only small cheese in the budget ahead of what’s likely to be another record-breaking hot summer. Where’s the additional funding for bushfire management practices, extra fire-fighters and upgrading emergency services equipment?

Just five years ago we faced massive fires, with significant community damage and 96,000 hectares of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area destroyed. Despite this recent memory, this budget has precious little in extra funds to protect communities and this island’s unique environment from fire.

When it comes to climate action, the Rockliff Government is required to release their plans for making carbon emissions’ reductions this November, but there is no money to actually implement those plans.

The Liberal Government’s budget has prioritised spending on a billion-dollar stadium instead of the environment that sustains us, or on preparing for the reality of climate extremes. That’s not good enough. The Greens will continue to stand up against this business-as-usual attitude, and against Liberal and Labor politicians’ pandering to the interests of corporations.