Environment Report Reveals Shocking Outlook For Australia’s Crumbling Land And Wildlife

A damning new report released on Tuesday by the Federal Government has painted a shocking picture of Australia's environment.

The latest State of the Environment report reveals Australia has lost more mammal species than any other continent, while the Black Summer bushfires scorched more than 8 million hectares of native vegetation.

It found over the last 30-years about 6.1 million hectares of primary forest has been cleared, while in the past 10 years some 377 species of plants and animals have been declared "threatened”.

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Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek told ABC on Tuesday that the report has sounded an alarming bell for Australia’s ecosystems.

"The overall story is the environment is in a bad state and it’s declining," she said. "If we don’t do something to change what we’re doing now, we’re going to continue to see the decline."

"The previous minister, Sussan Ley, received this report in December last year and it sat on her desk for six months. She didn’t want to release it. The government didn’t want to release it. When you read the report, you will understand why. It’s a shocking story."

"It tells a story of crisis and decline in Australia's environment [and] of a decade of government inaction and wilful ignorance," Ms Plibersek said.

Plibersek said when the new parliament sits next week, climate change action will be prioritised.

"One of the most important things we can do is be part of the global effort to tackle climate change. That’s why it’s so important that one of the first acts of the Albanese Labor government when parliament resumes will be to legislate that higher ambition on climate action," she said.

Every single category except for urban environments has deteriorated since the last report in 2016, including inland water, coasts, air quality and extreme events, with climate change, mining, pollution, invasive species and habitat loss all major contributors.

"Environmental degradation is now considered a threat to humanity, which could bring about societal collapses with long-lasting and severe consequences," the report said.

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