Dr Faruqi said:
“The Government is squirreling away billions of dollars in surpluses and almost completely ignoring our most valuable asset, the natural environment.
“$22 million to upgrade facilities and amenities won’t go very far across the seven million hectares of National Park across New South Wales.
“I am also deeply concerned to see that the Environmental Trust only gave three major grants in 2016/2017 and underspent its budget by about a third. There is no shortage of environmental need in this state so I think the public deserve an explanation.
“It is quite telling that the NSW Treasurer managed to mention every other issue under the sun except climate change and a very fleeting reference to National Parks.
“The elephant in the room is the Government’s land clearing laws that are waiting to be unleashed. They may be putting some token money into private land conservation and threatened species habitat protection but this pales in comparison to the devastation that their laws will cause.
“You can’t greenlight broadscale clearing in NSW, then throw a bit of money at the environment and claim everything will be okay.
“We know there has been anaemic growth in National Parks under this Liberal/National Government. There have been four environment ministers in six years, which shows what a low priority it is. This budget is yet another slap in the face to the environment and the millions of people who care for it” she concluded.
Wednesday, June 21, 2017 | Dr Mehreen Faruqi
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