Sign the open letter
This federal election, let’s change the laws of nature
This election, we can take power back from vested interests and captured politicians. We can secure strong new national laws that actually protect the environment and an independent national environment protection watchdog to enforce these laws.
Vested interests are riding roughshod over communities to damage our environment and health, and taking advantage of weak laws, overseen by captured governments, to trash our forests, waterways, wildlife and climate.
But together we can change this and give power back to communities. The federal election provides a big opportunity to secure strong new national nature laws that work and an independent watchdog to enforce the laws.
Vested interests are destroying nature
Vested interests have taken advantage of weak laws, overseen by captured governments, to pollute, bulldoze and destroy the environment and climate.
Our national environment laws are not currently working to protect the environment. They are there to help big corporations get developments approved. They don’t even mention or deal with the escalating problem of climate change.
Almost all projects (99.7%) assessed by the Federal Government get rubber-stamped, with just 2% knocked back by the courts.
Environmental crisis
Australia’s forests, waterways and wildlife are now in crisis—and once they’re gone, they're gone forever. Consider these facts:
- Deforestation rates in Australia are now up there with the destruction of the Amazon which kills wildlife and impacts air and water quality in all communities.
- Old growth forests and homes to endangered species are still being clear-felled for woodchips.
- Climate change is wreaking havoc on our river systems, water supplies, forests and the Great Barrier Reef.
- Australia has the one of the worst rates of species extinction on the planet yet the government keeps turning a blind eye to their continued destruction and it refuses to act to help bring them back from the brink.
- River pollution and over-extraction of water is decimating our water supplies and natural assets like the Murray-Darling and the Great Barrier Reef.
- The opening up of huge new polluting coal, gas and oil mines threatens the health and livelihoods of local communities and continues to worsen climate change.
Our vision
We need to give power back to communities on issues that affect their local environment and the iconic places we all love. We need to secure a real future for the native wildlife we care about, with cleaner air, more resilient soils, healthy oceans and a climate we can rely on. We need to properly protect and restore our environment once and for all.
That’s why we’re working with the Places You Love Alliance—made up of 54 organisations with a combined 1.5 million supporters—to secure new, stronger national nature laws and an independent environment protection watchdog with teeth to defend our natural environment.
What we're doing:
- Working with local communities to ensure their voices are heard
- Training and supporting local leaders to become powerful advocates
- Advertising to raise the profile of the issue
- Undertaking research and investigations to expose the crisis in the media
- Lobbying politicians to adopt strong policies
Where the political parties stand & supporting facts
Check out our assessment of where the major parties stand on this issue and supporting facts verifying claims on this page and public claims made in this campaign.
