Queensland landholders are doing critical work to protect the state’s unique landscapes and iconic threatened species - yet many miss out on land tax exemptions that other landholders enjoy.
Queensland boasts some of Australia’s most spectacular natural landscapes - and is the most biodiverse state in the country. It’s home to 85% of Australia’s native mammals, 72% of native birds, and more than 50% of our native reptile and frog species. Many of these plants, animals, and landscapes are found nowhere else in the world.
Across Queensland, landholders provide protection in perpetuity for critical habitats and threatened species with conservation covenants (called “nature refuges” in Queensland). There are 592 nature refuges around Queensland, protecting 4,930,731 hectares of habitat.
These deliver enormous public benefits: they safeguard biodiversity, contribute to our national target to protect 30% of land by 2030, and support landscape-scale benefits — which underpin nature-dependent industries like tourism and agriculture.
Yet right now, Queensland landholders who choose to protect nature can lose existing tax exemptions - or face extra land tax. Unsurprisingly, this acts as a roadblock to conservation.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
When Victoria introduced a land tax exemption for conservation covenants in 2024, interest from landholders more than doubled in just one year. By following suit, Queensland could unlock a wave of voluntary conservation, helping to bridge the gap to its protected area target - currently sitting at just 8.6% of the state’s land area, and well below the 17% goal.
It’s time for Queensland to join every other Australian state and remove land tax from land protected for nature. It’s a simple, fair, and effective reform that would deliver big benefits for people and nature.
