Royal commission now: The case against Albanese’s environmental record

A damning FOI investigation reveals the Albanese Government’s deliberate efforts to undermine environmental protections, sparking urgent calls for a royal commission. Sue Arnold reports.

ALARMING REVELATIONS obtained under FOI have exposed a shocking dereliction of duty by the Albanese Government. Internal documents show it planned to maintain native forest logging if a precedent-setting lawsuit by the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) was won. The revelations are grounds for a royal commission.

The Guardian’s investigation exposed plans by the Federal Government to circumvent any likelihood of a federal court judgement that could halt native forest logging in NSW. Prime Minister Albanese’s focus was northern New South Wales, the site of the NSW Labor Government’s promised Great Koala National Park, a region where 60% of NSW high-grade sawlogs are obtained.

Justice Perry’s ruling upheld the Regional Forest Agreements' current 20-year approval, which provides the forestry industry with an exemption from the environmental protection provisions of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act (EPBC). Her judgment dismissed any requirement for fresh scientific studies regarding the impacts of industrial logging on endangered species, old-growth forests and world heritage values.

Australia’s war on nature leading to environmental collapse

Bulldozers roll, koalas perish and governments look the other way as extinction becomes policy.

A devastating loss, as many scientific experts have provided compelling evidence of climate change impacts creating drought, floods, heatwaves and wildfires, destined to create major problems for native forest fauna.

Given the catastrophic loss of species in the 2019-2020 fires, the judgment allowed states included in the Regional Forest Agreements to ignore the harm caused by the fires. Significant research by independent scientists demonstrating losses of ecosystems, biodiversity, riparian zones and specific species of trees involved in harvesting irrelevant.

A ministerial briefing by former Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek in 2023 detailed the importance of north-east NSW forests, habitat for approximately 300 threatened species and endangered species, including the koala, greater glider and the swift parrot.

Like water off a duck’s back, Albanese remained unconcerned, instead pushing his plans to ensure native forest logging continued.

According to the article, FOI documents showed Albanese wrote to his environment and agriculture ministers in 2023, requesting updates on how to deal with any forestry shutdown. Potential ways to get around any negative judgment included giving the state power to authorise logging under a special bilateral agreement between NSW and the Federal Government.

As well, a national interest exemption under federal environment legislation allowing the Forestry Corporation NSW (FCNSW) to apply to the Federal Environment Minister was considered, plus fast-track assessments. Even worse, self-assessment by the Corporation was also considered. An extraordinary consideration by any responsible federal government, let alone the Labor Prime Minister.

Needless to say, mainstream media ignored the proposed grossly irresponsible interference.

Albanese conveniently disregarded the FCNSW-reported loss of $29 million last year, bringing the total loss over the past four years to $73 million. All taxpayer dollars.

Habitat destruction pushing koalas toward extinction

Koalas are disappearing as state governments and industries destroy habitats — what will future Australians say when they are gone?

In discounting the exponential public protest and opposition to native forest logging in NSW, the ongoing mortality of koalas and greater gliders – both endangered species under state and federal legislation – and the non-declaration of the promised park where industrial logging is escalating, PM Albanese demonstrated the depth of his extraordinary anti-environmental policies.

A recent visit by NSW Premier Minns to a Coffs Harbour hardwood plant, which supplies utility poles, provides a glimpse into the likely ongoing non-declaration of the Great Koala Park or a very slimmed-down version designed to appease the public.

Wood Central reports on the Minns meeting, with Martin McCarthy, a member of Coffs Harbour Hardwoods, saying:

“We then spoke about the impact of an (oversized) park on the state’s supply of hardwoods, and you could see the cogs start to turn.”

The ramifications of an anti-environmental PM whose policies are shared by the Victorian and NSW Labor governments are frightening. At a time when the world’s highest court, the International Court of Justice, has ruled that nation states have a legal obligation to protect the climate from carbon emissions and polluting nations have to pay compensation to countries harmed by climate change, Albanese and state Labor governments are approaching a reckoning.

The approval of Woodside’s North West Shelf project extension to 2070, as the first act in Albanese’s second term of government, was greeted with alarm.

Climate Council’s response made clear the impact:

“They’ve just approved one of the most polluting fossil fuel projects in a generation, fueling climate chaos for decades to come. This single project will unleash more than four billion tonnes of climate pollution.”

The Council acknowledges that the approval is the 27th fossil fuel approval since the Albanese Government took office.

New environment minister a win for industry but a loss for environment

The decision to put an ex-forestry minister in charge of environmental protection shows that industry still comes first for this Government.

Before the approval was given, the Council unleashed a mega-warning to the Federal Government:

‘Approving the North West Shelf extension would be climate vandalism. It would stain any legacy the Albanese Government hopes to build around protecting Australians from climate change and powering our future with renewable energy.’

Political indifference to climate impacts on biodiversity continues to grow.

In 2009, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared the koala one of ten global species severely impacted by climate change. As their primary habitats in native forests are destroyed, together with massive urbanisation projects and infrastructure, the koala is facing extinction as eucalypt leaves shrivel, leaving koalas to die of starvation and thirst. Another victim of Australian governments’ rejection of any legal provisions to protect biodiversity from the impacts of climate change.

“I don’t support adding a [climate] trigger to that legislation,” said Albanese. The PM and Plibersek claimed the existing mechanism, which caps emissions from big industrial emitters and mines, was “already doing the job”, reported the Australian Financial Review.

The marine environment is increasingly suffering from warming oceans and unusual heatwave conditions. In South Australia, an algal bloom has affected 400 types of fish and marine animals. Scientists and the public are horrified by the number of dead marine creatures washing up on beaches. CNN reported dead common bottlenose dolphins, penguins, crabs and eels, describing the area as an underwater graveyard.

A marine heatwave has been affecting southern Australia since September 2024. Elevated ocean temperatures are considered to be a contributing factor to the algal bloom.

The Biodiversity Council hasn’t minced words on the devastating damage in its media release:

Man-made, inevitable, and likely to recur regularly without major action, that is how the Biodiversity Council has labelled the catastrophic toxic algal bloom impacting 500 km of South Australia's coastline.

They also have a warning; this is not just a South Australian problem. The impacts of the bloom will be far-reaching, and the bloom itself is just one consequence of the marine heatwaves ringing the country.

Included in the seven actions needed: Accelerate Australia’s decarbonisation efforts and become a leader in climate action.

SA’s ‘underwater bushfire’ devastating marine life and threatening human health

Dead fish and other marine life in the tens of thousands have washed up on South Australian beaches and there have been multiple reports of people suffering respiratory problems after being exposed to sea spray.

Murray Watt, the current Minister for the Environment, announced a $14 million grant to help South Australia deal with its toxic alga bloom.

Darcie Carruthers, the South Australian campaigner for the Australian Conservation Foundation, summed up the disappointment which greeted Watt’s decision.

If Minister Watt is serious about protecting nature and businesses, he’ll stop approving coal and gas and create nature laws that protect them from climate pollution.

Declaring this a national disaster could render more assistance.

In Tasmania, more devastating evidence of climate change impacts demonstrates an alarming situation for the giant kelp forests, with a decline of 95 per cent.

An investigation by CSIRO states:

But as our climate changes, the seas around Tasmania have warmed and the East Australian Current has flowed further south.

Warm waters, low nutrients and sea urchins are deadly to giant kelp.

Research by the University of Tasmania indicates:

‘The East Coast of Tasmania is a hotspot for oceanographic change in response to climate change, with waters warming three to four times the global average... for a wide range of fish and invertebrates, including commercially valuable species such as abalone and lobster.’

IA’s analysis of several significant environmental crises facing this ancient land is the tip of a big iceberg. The sum total of the ecological crises demands immediate action, which must start with ending approvals for fossil fuel projects and ensuring contractual agreements are limited to time frames that allow rigorous investigations of any climate impacts. Native forest logging must end if forest fauna is to survive.

A mandatory climate trigger must be inserted into the EPBC Act.

As PM Albanese and his government continue to ignore the urgency of climate action, it’s time for other political parties and an increasingly concerned public to demand a royal commission into the appalling non-action by the Government. Australia’s environmental crises must become a top priority.