Today’s Victorian state budget includes some positive steps for the energy transition already well underway including new money for efficient electric hot water and home insulation, but insufficient funding for nature restoration or to protect threatened species, said Environment Victoria today.
Senior Climate and Energy advisor Kat Lucas-Healey said:
“The extension of rebates for efficient electric hot water systems will ensure more households can ditch gas and lock in lower energy bills.
“Insulation is essential for comfortable homes and affordable heating and cooling bills. Funding for expanding Victorian Energy Upgrades will ensure insulation is available to more households and installed by a trained and accredited workforce.
“This government is delivering on energy and renewables while navigating the challenges of a dwindling and expensive gas supply. It’s great to see this work continuing and setting Victoria up for a positive future.
Rivers and Nature Campaign Manager Greg Foyster said:
“Once again our natural environment has been short-changed in the Victorian budget, risking extinction for hundreds of threatened species.
“While it’s welcome to see budget measures to encourage more visits to parks and reserves, without significant additional funding for threatened species and restoring nature we don’t have a healthy environment for people to enjoy.
“If the government wants to invest in the great outdoors for the longer term, we need to see a massive increase in funding for parks and reserves, biodiversity programs and saving threatened species.
“The Parliamentary Inquiry into Ecosystem Decline recommended increasing funding for parks and reserves to 1% of gross state product. One percent doesn’t seem too much to ask to ensure the survival of all the animals, plants, wetlands, forests and special places in Victoria, but the current funding is pitifully small.
“This is despite increasingly desperate calls from scientists, environment groups, wildlife carers and people working on the ground to invest in the natural environment that supports us all.
“Polling from the RedBridge Group commissioned by the Victorian National Parks Association has found national parks are incredibly popular with Victorians and especially people on lower incomes. Yet the budget doesn’t include any funding to legislate national parks in the Central West promised more than three years ago.”