Overview
The State Budget contained a range of climate-related initiatives largely centred on decarbonisation, the renewable energy transition, and urban greening.
The Budget allocates $17 million for urban greening initiatives, with funding allocated to both the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage (DPLH) and Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) to deliver the Urban Canopy Program and Treebates initiative, respectively. These announcements are the key initiative that contribute to the State Government’s commitments to double Perth’s urban tree cover to 30% by 2040, and plant one million trees in metropolitan Perth by 2035.
Approximately $10 million has been allocated to DPLH to support the Urban Canopy Program, with $2.5 million allocated annually over the next four years. A portion of this funding will be allocated to Local Governments as part of an expanded Urban Canopy Grant Program. However, it remains unclear what portion of these funds will be allocated to Local Governments, what the geographical extent of the grant program will be, and when it will open for the 2026 planting season.
$6.9m has been allocated to DWER to deliver the Treebates program, which is planned to deliver 10,000 new trees on private residences a year for the next four years.
WALGA continues to await the release of the draft of the State Government’s Urban Greening Strategy.
The State Budget also includes additional funding to support tree planting as part of the Polyphagous Shot-Hole Borer (PSHB) recovery that is available for Local Governments.
Other measures announced include:
- $5 million for the Healthy Oceans Fund to support the underwater ecosystem through seagrass bed restoration projects and research
- $584 million investment in wind generation north of Perth and to expand renewable generation
- $337 million for the Residential Battery Scheme
- $50 million to support local battery manufacturing
- An additional $30 million for a second round of the New Energies Industries Funding Stream of the Investment Attraction Fund to support major clean energy and renewable energy projects
- $70.5 million, in partnership with the Commonwealth in the Clean Energy Skills National Centre of Excellence under the National Skills Agreement, and
- $2 million for a Climate Adaptation Program for Small-to-Medium Enterprises managed by the Small Business Development Corporation.
The Budget did not allocate any additional funding for the CoastWA program, with the current
5-year program still scheduled to end at the end of 2025-26. This is despite WALGA’s calls to extend, expand and restructure CoastWA to protect coastal communities and assets from erosion and inundation, and for $150 million for coastal adaptation over the next five years.
WALGA’s calls to expand the Electric Vehicle charging network in highly developed areas without off-street parking and in multi-residential unit developments where on-site charging isn’t available also weren’t included, with no additional funding to expand the Electric Vehicle charging network allocated in the Budget.
The Regional Climate Alliance Program was also not funded again.
WALGA Comment
The impacts of climate change are being felt across Western Australia. WALGA’s priorities platform, ‘The West at its Best’ seeks funding for a number of critical initiatives to support the transition to net zero and manage the impacts of climate change, with a focus on support for Local Governments to restore their urban tree canopy, manage the impacts of coastal erosion and collaborate on climate change adaptation and mitigation initiatives.
Highlighting a stark change from previous budgets, the words climate change or climate action did not appear in the Treasurer’s Budget speech or the WA State Budget Overview.
This appears to signal a shift in the State Government’s priorities from climate action to economic diversification. While many of the diversification initiatives are climate positive and welcomed, the lack of action and support on key climate policies and initiatives is concerning.
