Australia’s next Federal Government must protect our environment

As the country waits to find out which party will form the next Federal Government, and with whom, two things are already immediately obvious: the critical need to address climate change, nature conservation and other environmental priorities has not gone away, and the surge in support for the Greens across the country shows people want action on the environment.

While the two biggest parties – the Liberals and Labor – mostly chose to ignore the environment during their election campaigns, and failed to develop credible responses to climate change, the Greens have received the biggest share of the national swing away from Labor, and have significantly increased their parliamentary presence and power.

The Greens will hold the balance of power in the Senate, and could help decide who forms the next government of Australia in the House of Representatives. The Wilderness Society hopes this means the next Parliament will have a stronger focus on the environment, and will encourage all the political parties to develop better environmental policies and positions.

A stronger focus on the environment would be a very good thing, given that the major parties were cannot afford to ignore the urgent need to protect our wild places and to address dangerous climate change. They cannot credibly avoid developing positive policies on climate and nature conservation.

Regardless of who forms the next Federal Government, from today the Wilderness Society will continue to strongly advocate for our conservation priorities, and promote the need for urgent action on environmental protection.