24th June 2025
Today's budget is a sad indictment on the cost of global inaction on climate and protecting nature, according to the Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales (NCC), the state's leading environmental organisation.
NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey today announced $4.2 billion for disaster relief across the forward estimates, including Australian Government contributions.
"The costs of climate-fuelled disasters are mounting, yet this budget fails to make investments that get our climate targets back on track," said Jacqui Mumford, Chief Executive Officer for Nature Conservation Council NSW.
"Restoring and protecting nature is a big part of the solution - whether it's tackling deforestation, restoring ecosystems, or protecting species against decline."
Unfortunately, the NSW Labor Government will spend just 1.58% of the budget on the environment, a decline from the long-term average of 2%, as a proportion of the overall budget.
In a budget submission to the NSW State Government in December last year, NCC recommended that spending should be at least 2%.
"Whilst the NSW budget deficit is decreasing, sadly, the temperature, our threatened species list, habitat destruction and climate disasters are all on the rise," said Ms Mumford.
"Surely the most prudent thing to do would be to invest in maintaining and bringing back healthy ecosystems which will help protect us into the future.
Meanwhile, spending on natural disasters has increased tenfold for relief and recovery efforts since the Black Saturday Bushfires of 2019.
Statements attributable to Jacqui Mumford, Nature Conservation Council NSW CEO:
"What we've been given today is a big zero on new spending on the Great Koala National Park, let alone funds to effectively support the implementation of the Government's first Nature Strategy.
"What is still accounted for, however, is subsidies for native forest logging. Over the past four and a half years, the hardwood division has lost $87 million at the taxpayer's expense.
"We can no longer afford to keep running nature at a deficit.
"We need to put nature spending back on the priority list for NSW.
"The NSW Government has rightly acknowledged climate and extinction crises but continues to underfund solutions. Without strong investment in the ecosystems that protect us, we are not building real climate resilience."
