This very week last year, I was devastated when the Prime Minister axed an agreement with the Greens to overhaul Australia’s nature protection laws.
After a decade of trying, it made me wonder if it was actually impossible to win stronger nature protection laws. And that fear grew earlier this year when the Albanese government chose the salmon industry over protecting the ancient Maugean skate just days before calling the federal election.
Maugean Skate by Neville Barrett
But I knew not to give up, big wins for nature rarely come easily. Sometimes doing the impossible just takes a little time.
Australians didn't give up either. They hounded our PM to do better. They wrote to their MP, turned up at their offices and demanded that they deliver the new nature protection laws they promised.
And something wonderful has just happened. Labor and the Greens put aside their differences and struck a deal to deliver strong nature protection laws. For the first time, Australia's forests will finally be protected under national nature laws. The deforestation loopholes that have facilitated destruction for a quarter of a century are closing. The carve outs for native forest logging are ending.
Koalas, greater gliders and the other 2,000 threatened species now have a real fighting chance to thrive instead of being catapulted toward extinction.
For the first time Australia will have an independent national EPA that will make science-based decisions, and enforce new rules that protect nature. This is a game changer because it helps get political interference out of environmental decision-making.
For the first time, Australian law will say that new coal and gas projects are not in the national interest, which frankly is rather obvious to anyone concerned about climate change. This is not the ban on new coal and gas that we need, but fossil fuels will not be fast-tracked.
These are not small shifts. This is seismic, structural change to how Australia protects nature.
Over half of Australia's forests have been destroyed or degraded since European arrival. Between 2000 and 2017, an area larger than Tasmania of threatened species habitat was bulldozed. Every year, deforestation injures, displaces or kills 50 to 100 million native animals. These protections mean that catastrophic destruction can be stopped.
This didn't happen because politicians suddenly saw the light. It didn't happen because the right report landed on the right desk.
This happened because hundreds of thousands of Australians refused to accept the status quo.
This happened because community groups fought logging projects in their local forests, because Traditional Owners asserted their rights to protect Country, because scientists spoke inconvenient truths, because young people demanded a liveable future.
This happened because people organised, because they showed up at town halls and MP offices, wrote letters, made donations, shared posts, and had difficult conversations with their loved ones about why this mattered.
The coalition between Labor and the Greens to pass this legislation happened because the people of Australia made it politically impossible not to act.
I am constantly inspired by people across Australia that care and show up. Farmers that produce food and protect habitat on their land. Coal workers that advocate for a renewable powered national. Tourism operators that take the plight of our reefs to Canberra. And ACF supporters that rally their community to act for nature.
Every email sent, every petition signed, every conversation had about protecting nature mattered.
And no, it’s not perfect. Climate change is the biggest missing piece, and we’ll be watching closely to ensure it’s addressed. When we see devastating coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo, when we watch algal blooms suffocate marine animals, we know our national nature law cannot turn a blind eye to climate damage. You can’t protect nature while ignoring the menacing crisis that threatens all of it.
We need to watch carefully that ministerial powers aren't used to undermine these new protections. We want to be sure decision-making stays at the national level, that First Nations and community consultation rights are really protected. That the net gain to nature promised in this legislation is delivered.
The government has put forward a package it says will protect nature. Now they need to prove it.
The responsibility now sits with the federal government to use these laws to say no to destructive projects, to protect forests and wildlife, to put nature and people ahead of polluting industries. And the responsibility sits with all of us to hold them accountable.
The same people power that won these laws will be watching every decision, every approval, every compromise. We didn't fight this hard to let it be weakened in implementation. We’ll be waiting to act. And now, we have better tools and stronger laws to hold governments to account.
A decade ago when I started at ACF, I knew the power of the people was greater than the people in power. It doesn't always feel like it but when people refuse to give up, they eventually win.
They win nature protection laws. They stop coal and gas mines. They keep ancient forests standing and rivers flowing. They create a safe climate and a nation powered by renewables.
Are we there yet? No. Will we get there? Absolutely.
As I prepare to step down from ACF at the end of this year, I'm not worried about the future of this fight. I know what this movement of people can do.
They just won a once-in-a-generation nature protection law. And this is just the beginning.