There were winners and losers in the federal budget this week. Here are some of the response highlights from key groups in the built environment and sustainability. The Australian Conservation Foundation’s full list of allocations is posted at the end of this article.
Australian Conservation Foundation
Chief executive officer Kelly O’Shanassy said: On one side, the budget allocates significant funding to the ambitious Future Made in Australia plan, which, if well-executed, will help build a manufacturing and export industry powered by clean, renewable energy. This is crucial to solving the climate crisis.
But on the other side of the budget coin, serious public money is still flowing to coal and gas, especially via the Fuel Tax Credit scheme and through funding for carbon capture and storage – technology designed to extend the use-by date of climate-damaging fossil fuels.
Experts say $2bn a year – less than a quarter of what is splashed annually in fuel tax credits – is needed to help Australian threatened species recover.
The $20m to improve engagement with communities involved in the energy transition is crucial given the rise in misinformation and disinformation.
This is the third Albanese government budget in which less than a cent out of every dollar the Commonwealth plans to spend is allocated to climate action and nature protection.
There is a long way to go before funding for the environment is at a scale needed to protect and restore nature and secure the services nature provides and on which we all depend.”
The full list of key allocations is listed at the end
Engineers Australia
The Future Made in Australia framework is our first true generational plan to tackle the energy transition head-on. We’re moving from market-led decisions to strategic investments, leveraging our natural advantages to keep competitive and sustainable. This isn’t just about going green; it’s about making it economically viable on a global scale.
Engineers Australia supports Federal Budget funding announcements to accelerate the transition to net zero through support for solar, hydrogen, critical minerals, and batteries. Clean hydrogen is the Swiss Army Knife of energy transition, thanks to its versatility across the transport, industry, and power sectors. By establishing a robust regulatory and policy framework and securing the necessary funding for research, development, and commercialisation, we can fully unlock and leverage hydrogen’s vast potential within Australia’s economy.
Chief executive Romilly Madew also hailed the boost for artificial intelligence. “It is encouraging to see investments not only in the adoption of AI but also in the establishment of an AI advisory body,” she said, adding it was something that EA had advocated for.
The Climate Council
By earmarking billions of investments in coming years to grow clean industries like critical minerals, renewable hydrogen and clean energy manufacturing, the federal government is charting a course to power past the end of fossil fuels.
The Insurance Council of Australia
The $1 billion Disaster Ready Fund, now in its second year of operation, was welcome. However, the overall investment in resilience and mitigation remains below where we need to be as a nation.
The budget papers show that the forecast cost to the Commonwealth alone of recovering from the disasters of recent years has increased by almost $4 billion just since December, highlighting why investment in disaster mitigation is more important than ever.
There was a need to return some of the $6.8 billion stamp duty taken on premiums by state governments to stronger resilience and mitigation measures.
Carbon Market Institute
The budget had important down payments in carbon market renovation and nature repair market establishment, but bigger investments need to follow, said CEO John Connor.
We welcome the $48 million boost to ongoing ACCU scheme reforms, including for the federal department (DCCEEW), and to establish the Carbon Abatement Integrity Committee to roll out the new proponent-led method development process, and improve transparency. This includes important investments to help Indigenous land managers to participate in the scheme. There’s also $40.9 million to establish the Nature Repair Market, its methods and administration, as well as a welcome $63.8 million over 10 years to support emissions reductions in the agriculture and land sectors.
Nevertheless, the budget leaves key investment details still to be clarified. In particular, around the role of the Commonwealth as an investor in the ACCU scheme and how it plans to scale up and stimulate investment in the ACCU and Nature Repair Market over the next few years, beyond least-cost investments under the Safeguard Mechanism.
Beyond Zero Emissions
There was both good and bad news for Australian households and for our clean energy future.
Head of engagement, Beth Mitchell, welcomed initiatives that would stimulate the hydrogen industry, the Energy Industry Jobs Plan, which will upskill workers for the energy transformation, and the Household Energy Upgrades Fund, which will help those struggling with the high cost of living.
This budget tries to bridge a big gap between policy gains and funding the action needed on the ground. However, some areas seem to fall short of the scale of investment needed.
Climate Energy Finance
Tim Buckley said: In the budget, we saw an excellent $21bn down payment. It is great to see that this is additional funding, not the usual political trick of rehashing previous press releases.
The development of the production tax credit (PTC) model for critical minerals and green hydrogen to incentivise onshore value-adding is a very strong step forward, a clear acknowledgement that Australia can’t simply leave it to free markets when other countries have made such significant public interest interventions, undermining global trade.
We particularly note the absence of any additional stimulus on “electrifying everything” and only $28m of new funding to better integrate consumer energy resources into the grid.
Superpower Institute
The approach taken in Treasury’s National Interest Framework was excellent, said CEO Rod Sims.
He said it was extremely pleasing to see in the Net Zero Transformation Stream of the Future Made in Australia a complete focus on the Superpower industries, the need for Australia to have a comparative advantage in industries that are supported, and clear recognition of the two main market failures that, unless addressed, will lead the market to pick losers.
These market failures are due to the lack of a carbon price, which means that green products do not compete on a level playing field with gas or coal products because the latter do not pay for the damage they do to the environment.
The other market failure is the need for support for first movers who bring known technology to scale despite inevitably making mistakes through ‘learning by doing’, which will cost them, but from which followers coming later will benefit.
The Framework mentions that green iron/steel and green alumina/aluminium account for 13% of world emissions and that these are industries in which Australia can be a major world player.
By turning our iron ore into green metal alone, Australia would reduce world emissions by well over 3 per cent.
Australia Institute
A missed opportunity for the Government to solve the key underlying structural problems causing growing inequality, focusing instead on small announceables.
The Greens
Labor’s third budget is a betrayal of everyone doing it tough, especially renters, women, and people with mortgages.
Labor has chosen to continue the billions of dollars of tax handouts to wealthy property investors, denying renters the chance to buy a home. Some renters will get just an extra $1.30 a day, while millions get nothing at all.
Labor’s chosen to keep unlimited rent increases.
Labor’s chosen to allow supermarkets to keep price gouging.
Labor found $764 billion for defence but couldn’t find a cent to raise the rate of JobSeeker. They’re taxing big gas companies less and giving more to private schools.
Mission Australia
There is next to no new additional investment to seriously tackle Australia’s homelessness and housing emergency.
We welcome some of the measures announced, including funding for crisis and transitional accommodation for young people and women and children escaping violence, and some extra investment in social and affordable housing. However, while any additional funding is welcome, the Government’s efforts lack the necessary scale to prevent homelessness in the first place.
Homelessness and housing
A band-aid approach to a seriously strained homelessness service system. Wholesale reform and significant investment are desperately needed to prevent and end homelessness, yet there is little new funding in the Budget announcements.
The Civil Contractors Federation
The budget’s 69 new infrastructure projects worth $4.6b, assurance of the $120b Infrastructure Investment Program and Commonwealth’s recognition of the critical link between civil infrastructure, housing supply and community were welcomed.
$1b allocation for housing-enabling infrastructure and another $1b for the National Housing Infrastructure Facility to lay the foundations for building housing and community.
It is vital that the $2 billion in housing enabling infrastructure is allocated in $10 million, $20 million, and $50 million housing-enabling contracts to maximise the number of new homes right across the country and get ourselves out of the current decade low housing supply slump.
Noteworthy projects include an additional $3.25 billion for Victoria’s North East Link, $1.9 billion for projects around Western Sydney’s Aerotropolis, and $1.15 billion to fully fund the Sunshine Coast rail link.
Australian Constructors Association
The $10.1 billion allocated to cover cost increases on existing rather than new projects is a wake-up call.
The Australian government’s Future Made policy could be used to dramatically lower the cost of construction by investing in modern methods of construction (MMC).
MMC also aligns seamlessly with Australia’s ambitions for net-zero emissions.
Closing the productivity gap between construction and other industries could boost the economy by $56 billion annually. This could fund essential services like the NDIS and build new schools and hospitals nationwide.
Australian Conservation Foundation – summary of key allocations
Energy transition
- $22.7bn over a decade for the Future Made in Australia plan to underpin private investor and business confidence in building a renewable manufacturing and export industry, including
- funding for renewable hydrogen, green metals, clean energy technology manufacturing, including $8bn over 10 years to support the production of renewable hydrogen and $835m to boost solar manufacturing in Australia.
- $3.2bn over a decade to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to support commercialising technologies critical to the net zero transition, including renewable hydrogen, green metals and battery manufacturing.
- $182.7m over eight years to strengthen approval processes to support the delivery of the Future Made in Australia agenda and transition to a net zero economy, including
- $96.6m over four years to strengthen environmental approvals for renewable energy, transmission and critical minerals projects and to improve environmental data used in decision-making
- $20m to improve engagement with communities involved in the energy transition.
- $91m over the next five years for developing a clean energy workforce through expanded access to the New Energy Apprenticeship Program and clean energy courses.
- $399.1m over five years in additional resourcing for the Net Zero Economy Authority and Fair Work Commission to promote orderly and positive economic transformation for workers and regions affected by net zero transition.
- $47.7m over four years to maximise consumer and community benefits of the energy transition, including $27.7m to better integrate consumer energy resources, such as rooftop solar, home batteries and electric vehicles, into the grid.
International climate policy
- $76.2m over five years to support Australia’s continued engagement in international climate change and energy transition issues, including climate diplomacy and bid to co-host the COP31
- $150m over four years in international climate finance, including $100m over three years to fund small scale climate and disaster resilience projects in the Pacific and $50m over 2 years to the UN Green Climate Fund.
Nature
- $40.9m over two years to continue implementing the Nature Positive Plan, including $5.3m additional funding to progress legislative reforms and $4.1m to drive voluntary updates of the Nature Repair Market and nature-related reporting by businesses.
- $50m in 2024-25 for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to engage tourism operators to conduct reef monitoring, protection and other stewardship activities.
Greenwashing
- $17.3m over four years to take action against greenwashing and enhance the sustainable finance framework
Funding fossil fuels
- $32.6m over four years to establish regulatory frameworks and bilateral instruments to enable industry to move carbon dioxide to geological storage sites (carbon capture and storage).
- $54bn over five years for the fuel tax credits scheme.
Nuclear and uranium
- $43m over six years to continue identifying alternative pathways for disposal of Australia’s radioactive waste, including remediation of the former national Radioactive Waste Management Facility.