If the environment is not exactly invisible in the New South Wales election campaign, then it is sometimes difficult to see.
While a debate between Dominic Perrottet and Chris Minns hosted by Nine on Wednesday found time for the pair to be asked to recite their children’s names, neither leader was tested on what they would do to conserve the state’s natural heritage.
But a series of crucial decisions lie ahead for whoever leads the next government.
Protecting nature (and not only koalas)
Debate over nature conservation in NSW in recent years has at times been reduced to a fight over one charismatic species. That argument has played out inside the Coalition government and outside it.
Koala numbers have fallen significantly following a rise in forest destruction – described euphemistically as “land clearing” – and the devastating black summer bushfires of 2019-20. According to a NSW state of the environment report last year, the rate of forest destruction increased threefold over the past decade. There was a sharp jump after the Coalition replaced the Native Vegetation Act in 2016 with a more liberal regime that allowed landholders to self-assess whether they needed approval before bulldozing trees.
The koala was officially listed as endangered last year, with scientists warning it could be extinct by 2050 on its current trajectory.
Neither major party has released a plan to address the rate of forest clearing, but the next government will not be able to ignore the issue. Two major statutory reviews of laws and regulations governing forest destruction will report in the next term.
Labor has renewed its promise to create a great koala national park between Kempsey and Coffs Harbour on the north coast and another covering koala habitat south-west of Sydney. The details of both are yet to be finalised. The Coalition has promised $190m for koala protection, including restoring some forest areas, over the next three years. It has also increased the state’s national park estate by about 10%, but largely in inland areas.
Species that are not the koala get less specific attention. The state of the environment report said there were 1,043 threatened with extinction in the state. The Greens and several independent candidates have indicated they will demand more aggressive action to protect nature should they have the balance of power.
Part of that will focus on what to do about the state’s heavy reliance on biodiversity offsets to justify development expansion, which a Guardian Australia investigation showed has failed to deliver what is promised. Labor has promised to “fix” the “broken” offsets system if it wins. The Coalition has also pledged reform, but has not made meaningful changes to the system and continues to support offset use.
What to do about native forest logging
It gets only limited attention in the Sydney media, but there is a significant fight in regional NSW over the ongoing clearing of primary native forest relied on by koalas and other species. About 14,000 hectares of state forest is logged each year.
Protests against logging have intensified in parts of the mid-north and north coasts. Campaigners contrast the situation with Western Australia and Victoria, which have promised to end native forest logging in 2024 and 2030 respectively. In NSW, the Greens have proposed spending $300m on supporting industry and workers through an immediate transition out of native forest logging, but the major parties have not committed to a change.
The agriculture minister, Dugald Saunders, says he is proud of the Coalition’s record on forestry and the industry will continue to have a future. Labor has not indicated what its national park commitment would mean for forestry operations in those areas.
Squaring the circle on the climate crisis
NSW set a national benchmark in late 2020 when the parliament passed renewable energy laws with tripartisan support from the Coalition, Labor and the Greens. It set ambitious targets to underwrite solar and wind power and energy storage in renewable energy zones across the state.
Two and a bit years on, the Coalition is promising a $1.5bn clean energy superpower fund, including $1.2bn already announced to upgrade transmission networks and an extra $300m for grants to improve storage and grid security. Labor is promising to create a $1bn state-owned energy security company to drive investment in renewable energy projects.
The parties support the same 2030 emissions reduction target – a 50% cut compared with 2005. Labor says it would legislate the target and appoint a net zero commission to reach that goal by 2050. The Coalition has announced a 70% emissions reduction target for 2035.
Scientists say both parties are ahead of what the Albanese government, and certainly the Dutton opposition, are promising nationally. They are both targeting the biggest source of emissions in the state by backing a renewable energy expansion to replace coal.
But experts also say neither goal is yet in line with the state playing its part in limiting global heating to 1.5C, the goal mentioned in the Paris agreement.
Both parties’ position is undermined by their support for new coal and gas developments that scientists say would exacerbate the problem. The Coalition has supported new mines being allowed to open as long as there is demand for the fossil fuel. Labor has not disagreed with this position and advocates for it federally.
The anti-mining group Lock the Gate recently calculated that eight coal projects that will come before the NSW government in 2023 would add at least 1.5bn tonnes – more than three times Australia’s total annual pollution – to global emissions if they all went ahead. There are also problems for new gas developments, notably the contentious Narrabri gas field.
The Greens and independent candidates are among those calling for a change if the state is to play its part in dealing with the climate crisis that has exacerbated the catastrophic bushfires and floods that have hit the state over the past four years.
