With the federal budget under a week away, the Australian Conservation Foundation has highlighted five things the government should spend money on to protect nature and the climate – and five moves that would save a heap of public money.
“Spending on climate and nature across the forward estimates in last year’s budget accounted for less than 1 cent for every Commonwealth dollar, while spending on just one of several fossil fuel subsidies – the fuel tax credit scheme – cost 1.4 cents in every dollar,” said ACF’s national climate policy adviser Annika Reynolds (they/them).
“Cost of living pressures are hurting many Australians. Getting off fossil fuels and encouraging the uptake of renewable energy helps households.
“ACF urges the federal government to meaningfully address the climate change and extinction crises in this year’s budget by cutting spending that damages nature and the climate, leveraging those savings to increase investment in climate and nature protection.”
Spend
Roll out a $42.3 billion household renewables and thermal efficiency package over the next decade, with the 2026-27 budget to deliver funding for energy efficiency improvements in rental properties.
Deploy the $22.7 billion earmarked for Future Made in Australia initiatives in clean energy manufacturing and industry. This will accelerate the transition of Australia’s exports from dirty to clean and leverage this investment in Australia’s future capabilities to require strong conditionalities that deliver for workers, communities and nature.
Spend $418 million over four years to bed down nature law reform. This includes funding for stronger nature protection, the National Environmental Protection Agency, Environment Information Australia, vegetation mapping, measures to support compliance and enforcement, particularly in the agricultural sector.
Invest $300 million to continue the Saving our Native Species program. This is important to maintain the Albanese government’s ‘zero new extinctions’ commitment as funding ends this year.
Increase funding for the national food security strategy to $10 million (from $3 million) to allow meaningful consultation with diverse stakeholders including regenerative and organic farmers, remote and Indigenous communities, experts with knowledge of region-specific climate and nature-related risks facing the agricultural sector and communities experiencing food insecurity.
Save
Slap a flat 25% tax on Australian gas exports to generate at least $17 billion a year. The 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires caused economic losses exceeding $10 billion. Climate-fuelled disasters are expected to cost the Australian economy more than $40 billion a year by 2050. The Insurance Council of Australia reports that extreme weather cost $5 billion in insured losses in 2025, up 700% on the previous year. Gas exporters are fuelling the climate crisis while making huge profits – destroying homes, putting lives at risk, then leaving Australians to pick up the tab. The government should tax big gas greed.
Reform the Fuel Tax Credit scheme, removing access to the rebate for major mining and coal, oil and gas companies (including fossil fuel transportation companies). Budget 2025-26 estimated the scheme’s costs would increase from $10.1 billion in 2024-25 to $13.1 billion in 2028-29. In 2024, fossil fuel producers claimed approximately $2 billion in fuel tax credits. Most of this public money went to the coal sector, which alone claimed $1.5 billion in credits. If the government phased out fuel tax credits for all beneficiaries that claim $50 million or more per year, it would save the budget about $3 billion annually.
Cancel and redeploy the $1.9 billion subsidy for the proposed Middle Arm gas precinct announced in the lead-up to the 2022 federal election. A new gas and petrochemical hub on Darwin Harbour would add millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases to our atmosphere at a time when we need to drastically reduce climate pollution.
Restrict big miners from accessing the R&D tax incentive. The ATO’s latest transparency report (2022-23) on the research and development tax incentive showed the mining sector claimed $1.5 billion of expenditure against the R&D tax offset, resulting in foregone revenue that has not been publicly reported. Given the commercial maturity of the mining sector and the high risk of damage to nature and climate impacts from mining, ACF argues such activities should not be eligible for the R&D tax incentive.
Review the strategic and cost assumptions underpinning AUKUS, end the nuclear submarine acquisition program and conduct an independent review of Australia’s key security challenges and defence needs. The move to acquire AUKUS nuclear submarines is costed at $368 billion over the 30-year life of the program, making this the largest defence spend in Australia’s history. Defence has stated this cost estimate ‘will need to be updated as the program matures.’ The AUKUS spend has not been subject to standard review, testing or transparency and should not be further advanced in the absence of independent scrutiny.
Read ACF’s full pre-budget submission.
Blue pincushion daisy photo by Brendan Sydes