Policy issues
Air pollution contributes to the premature death of more than 3,000 Australians a year, yet air pollution standards fall short of world’s best practice, and polluters are not held accountable for exposing communities to harm.
Public lands should be held on trust for the people of NSW; managed by the Government with management directed at identifying and protecting the diverse values of public lands.
Our national environment law protects the places and wildlife we love. For decades, federal environmental laws have played a vital role in protecting nationally important environmental values from destructive development proposals supported by state governments.
Land-use planning and development is intrinsically linked with environmental protection, nature conservation and natural resource management.
Plastic and other waste pollutes the ocean and waterways and increases our reliance on dirty landfills. In Australia, an estimated 600 billion pieces of plastic infest our waters and kill marine life.
Our rivers and wetlands are under critical stress due to a long history of catchment degradation and unsustainable water extraction. Over the past century, the Murray Darling Basin has experienced a dramatic decline in wetlands, waterbirds and native fish populations, due to a massive increase in the volume of water extracted for irrigation.
The NSW Government has ended a 26–year ban on uranium exploration in NSW and is poised to allow mining for the first time. Uranium mining is linked to the production of some of the world’s most toxic and long-lasting industrial wastes and the proliferation of the world’s most destructive weapons.