In response to the re-election of the Albanese government, Australian Conservation Foundation CEO Kelly O’Shanassy said:
“ACF congratulates Mr Albanese and his team on their re-election for a second term.
“Voters have emphatically backed clean energy over a future fuelled by coal, gas and nuclear.
“As generations that have grown up with the reality of climate change make up a bigger and bigger proportion of the electorate, parties that have no policies to cut climate pollution will be unelectable.”
(The Coalition’s climate and nature policies scored 1 out of 100 on ACF’s election scorecard.)
“Australians saw through the Coalition’s nuclear distraction, rejecting it as no solution to the climate crisis and not right for our country. Too slow, too expensive, too thirsty, too risky.
“Australians have said no to nuclear. Nuclear is simply not suitable and is now off the table in Australia. That door is not just closed, it is welded shut.
“This election was a clean energy breakthrough. Voters chose renewables, storage and climate solutions over delay and distraction.
“Australia is nearly halfway to 100% renewables and there’s momentum to get the job done.
“All the hard work to cut Australia’s emissions will be wiped out if the Albanese government detonates the climate bombs in the Beetaloo Basin, the Browse Basin and at North West Shelf.
“Climate disasters will intensify in this term of government and the Albanese government now has to show the backbone to ditch new coal and gas. This will be important if Australia wants to be a credible host of a future climate COP.
“On nature, there is a great deal of work to do, with nature protection in a worse state in 2025 than it was when the Albanese government came to office in 2022.
“Australia’s natural beauty and amazing biodiversity is worth preserving. We owe it to our kids to let them grow up with koalas, gang gang cockatoos, the bush and reefs.
“Nature destruction harms us all. We need to protect nature because it protects us.
“Nature protection and economic success go hand in hand. A future made in Australia in manufacturing, energy, agriculture and tourism relies on healthy nature.
“There can be no more delays, backtracking, or caving to business lobby groups and polluters: the re-elected Albanese government must fix Australia’s broken nature protection laws, now.
“ACF looks forward to working with the re-elected government to help it deliver the full reform of nature laws in the first year of this term of parliament.”