The 2018-19 federal budget reads as an ongoing denial of the immediacy of climate change in Australia. The Department of The Environment and Energy had its funding slashed, grossing $168.7 million from last year.
The focus on energy in the 2018-9 budget is not to build a robust renewables system. Instead, the Minister Josh Frydenberg has announced this is a budget that will 'help keep the lights on and put downward pressure on power bills'.
There is no argument against Australians having a right to secure energy. However, the environmental portfolio appears to be neglecting its purpose of protecting the environment by reinforcing the use of fossil fuels, with a $41.5 million allocation in this year's budget.
By comparison, the Emissions Reductions Fund, which is money specifically set aside to fund renewable energy, has been cut from $3 billion in 2017-18 to $1.6 billion in the 2018-19 budget. This includes funding to solar wind farms being halved and solar programs cut by eight per cent.
A striking component of the environmental budget allocation is its focus on growing jobs and enterprise off the back of fossil fuel energy. Growth is the main message in the department's budget press release. It's disappointing to see rising temperatures do not feature as a theme, nor does the future security of the Australian recycling program, which already has a precarious future as we continue to lean on China to recycle our waste.
The protection of the environment for future generations relies on the ability of the government to fulfil the outcomes the ministry is founded on. The first outcome, and perhaps the most important, is to 'conserve, protect and sustainably manage Australia's biodiversity', and the second looks to 'reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions'.
It would appear these outcomes are reflected through the half a billion dollars put towards the Great Barrier Reef. This money will work towards ongoing conservation, reducing the number of crown of thorns starfish and ongoing monitoring of water quality.
"Will the government ever notice the needs of the Department of the Environment and Energy, and will the Minister ever notice the environment?"
It doesn't, however, go towards reducing the threat to the reef, the biggest of these being the pending Adani coal mine in North Queensland. The mine is set to generate $16.5 billion for the Australian government, making the donation to the reef only a fraction compared to the coal which will be dug up.
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