James Griffin
Shadow Minister for Energy, Climate Change and Environment
Shadow Minister for the Environment, James Griffin MP, has slammed the Minns Labor Government for presiding over an environmental catastrophe, following the release of data showing a 40% surge in land clearing across New South Wales in 2023.
According to the 2023 NSW Statewide Landcover and Tree Study (SLATS) released yesterday, 66,498 hectares of native vegetation were cleared last year – a 40% increase from the previous year, and the equivalent of 237 Sydney CBDs or four Royal National Parks lost in 12 months.
Mr Griffin said the Minns Labor Government has betrayed conservation and communities across New South Wales.
“What we’re seeing is environmental vandalism on a scale comparable with palm oil deforestation in Indonesia. This Labor Government came to office promising reform, and two years later they’ve delivered nothing but excuses and inertia,” Mr Griffin said.
“Labor campaigned in 2019 and 2023 on curbing land clearing yet clearing has exploded on their watch. They campaigned on this issue and have delivered absolutely no solutions.”
Mr Griffin said, “The State of the Environment Report earlier this month was a shocker, the Great Koala National Park is a farce, there are no aquatic reserves or marine conservation ideas to speak of, and clearly the environment doesn’t really matter around the Minns Cabinet table”.
Labor’s inaction contrasts with the forward-looking initiatives of the previous Coalition government - conservation initiatives such as those aimed at:
- The establishment of NSW’s first Natural Capital State Accounts – a nation-leading framework to measure, value and protect the state’s ecosystems in economic decision-making.
- Major investments in koala habitat corridors and private land conservation agreements.
- Strengthened data systems for land cover monitoring and vegetation mapping.
- And an ambitious push to integrate biodiversity metrics into infrastructure planning.