The 2025-26 NSW Budget will be delivered by Treasurer Daniel Mookhey in June 2025. ALCA outlines the major budget opportunities for NSW to deliver outcomes for people and nature.
Lifting its weight in protected area contributions
New South Wales is the jurisdiction with the second lowest level of protected areas on land (only 10.2% of the State), not much more than half the proportion of Victoria as the next lowest contribution (17.6%). Adopting the four recommendations as outlined in Protecting Australia's Nature: Pathways to protecting 30 per cent of land by 2030 will significantly lift its contribution to the collective national 30 by 30 commitment.
Strong environmental legislation
The health of the NSW economy is strongly linked to the condition of the environment and natural resources, and a strong Biodiversity Conservation Act will be critical to deliver outcomes for both nature and NSW communities. ALCA welcomes the Government's response to the Independent Review of the Act and urges reform in priority areas that will deliver stronger protections for nature and meaningfully reverse the decline of biodiversity in NSW.
This includes: prioritising the health of biodiversity and ecosystems in the objects of the act; ceasing clearance of native vegetation (except in extraordinary circumstances); and commencing the promised nature positive transition of its environmental offsets scheme.
Enhanced protection conservation covenants
Queensland has led the way with enhanced protection conservation covenants, where they are known as Special Wildlife Reserves. Enhanced protection conservation covenants provide an extra level of protection (i.e. excluding extractive activities such as mining) that is required for many external parties to invest in conservation, especially major international philanthropic foundations. ALCA welcomed the NSW Government's commitment to follow Queensland's lead and introduce stronger private land conservation agreements that protect sites of high biodiversity value from incompatible land uses. We now urge the NSW Government to follow through on this commitment by legislating and resourcing enhanced covenants.
