In my first speech in this place, I spoke about my very first experience of activism almost four decades ago. It was environmental activism sparked by land clearing in a precious coastal rainforest, which sent koalas fleeing for safety into my parents' front yard in Port Macquarie, New South Wales. Today, the koala is endangered, along with many other native species across our nation. With over 500 of our iconic wildlife species at risk of being erased forever, it is time to act. That's why I rise with much passion to support the Nature Repair Market Bill 2023. This bill gives us all hope for the future of our environment and is a reminder that we've waited too long under the former Liberal government for action—action to better protect and nurture our flora and fauna. If successful, this legislation will establish the mechanisms to bring landholders, businesses and conservation groups together to achieve better environmental and economic outcomes.

In places like my electorate of Corangamite, where there is rapid growth all along our coastline, this bill is particularly important. It will enable landholders to work with conservationists to remove invasive weeds and feral animals as well as clean up our waterways. This is important work. It builds on work that people of my community, including all those who work with Landcare, have championed for many years, because, all in all, the people across my region love our environment, and together we are prepared to fight for it. From the Surf Coast to the Bellarine and the Golden Plains and right across my region, we know there is so much to cherish. Corangamite is home to some of the most iconic surf beaches in the world, including Bells Beach, Fairhaven Beach and Thirteenth Beach on the Bellarine Peninsula, just to name a few. These are truly spectacular spots and, as we drive along the heritage listed Great Ocean Road, we're all reminded of just how lucky we are to live in Australia.

Often in this place we debate matters that may seem abstract, but what's at stake in this debate is all too clear. It's our parks. It's our lush rainforests. It's our fertile plains. It's our World Heritage sites. It's where our red cliffs meet the rolling surf. It's the ancient sacred sites of our First Nations people. It's our native animals. It's our communities. And it's our livelihoods. They're all at stake, and in the time of climate change, with the intense development pressures on our coastlines and our open green space, the Albanese government recognises that we must do better. This bill, the Nature Repair Market Bill, will make it easier for businesses, organisations, governments and individuals to come together and invest in projects that protect our environment and nurture our native flora and fauna, because at its core this legislation is about connecting people who want to invest in repairing our nation's environment with the people who can do the work on the ground.

As the State of the environment report made very clear to all Australians, our environment is under extreme pressure, and it is only going to get worse if we do not act. That's why the environment minister has introduced this significant and long-overdue bill. Through this bill, the minister is continuing a tradition, a proud Labor tradition, of stepping up and delivering environmental reform. It was our former prime minister Gough Whitlam who declared in 1974 that our nation's federal government must lead the way when it comes to environmental preservation. Gough Whitlam said:

We are the first generation of Australians to become sharply aware of the conflicting demands between growth and preservation of the environment. Our government is the first Australian Government to attempt to develop sound environmental policies to reconcile these demands, to ensure that growth and development are not bought at the price of the destruction of the nation's natural and historical inheritance.

This bill carries the spirit of Gough Whitlam's call. It recognises the need to balance growth and conservation and, importantly, it recognises that our First Nations people have seen forests, waterways and oceans decline for almost 250 years. It acknowledges that we need to think bigger and better. We cannot restrict our efforts to national parks and places of sanctuary. We must focus on private land because currently more than 60 per cent of this country is owned by farmers and First Nations people. It is where most of our endangered animals live, so we must work with our landowners to get better environmental outcomes.

So this market bill, the Nature Repair Market Bill 2023, makes absolute sense. It will support projects on private land that enhance or protect existing environments. It will also support those who establish or restore habitats for our native species, helping to end our extinction crisis. Through the bill these projects will be open to all landholders, from farmers to First Nations and from conservation groups to businesses and local councils. All will be eligible to apply. The scheme will see landholders issued with a tradeable certificate when they take on a project to repair or protect nature. This certificate will reinforce their credentials as supporters of our environment. The certificate will provide a range of standardised information about the size of land repaired, the kind of work conducted, the threatened species protected and the length of time actions will take. Importantly, it will mean our landholders will potentially get extra income through environmental action that improves the quality of their land. It will also greatly help conservation groups and philanthropists achieve their missions and, most importantly, it will repair and restore our nation's environment.

This bill will achieve this by solving two major problems with our current system. Firstly, the scheme will help landholders who want to contribute to the nature repair effort by partnering them with groups and individuals to achieve their environmental visions. The minister presented some fantastic examples of how this work will look, including Indigenous rangers who want to control a feral species across a flood plain to protect native birds and sea turtles and improve water quality for marine life. This will be supported under the scheme. Our business investors can enter into an agreement with a landowner to improve water quality in a river system. The nature repair market will cover such restoration projects and reward those who are involved. This means more money for farmers, more jobs for First Nations communities, more homes for Australia's native animals and plants, and healthier waterways.

Secondly, this bill will introduce oversight, transparency and assurance. I've spoken with many local Landcare groups and landowners, and they want to know whether our framework can really deliver their vision for nature repair. They know that, without oversight, a legal framework or a national regulator, businesses and the public could fall victim to greenwashing. This bill addresses these concerns by establishing a register to make sure that the details of projects are open and transparent, because we're all in this together and we have to keep each other accountable. To achieve this, the independent Clean Energy Regulator will monitor and publish landholder reports on the delivery of projects, including the progress being made towards environmental outcomes. The regulator will ensure nature repair projects are delivered according to the rules. The regulator will also publish information on projects and on the ownership and use of biodiversity certificates. It will allow parliament and people from all across the country to scrutinise the scheme, and, as the minister said, we welcome this scrutiny. We welcome it because we want to repair our environment at a time when immediate action is critical.

In summary, we've never had a better opportunity in this country to revitalise our environment. We now have the technology, and we have the willpower. Under this legislation, we will have the capacity to harness local partnerships and passion, to repair our environment and reshape our economy. The people of my electorate of Corangamite understand that our local economy would not be the same without the incredible natural environment around us. We know it sustains jobs in our region. We know it brings people to our region, to work, to visit and to live. This is just one reason why we need to see our environment better protected through government action and private sector cooperation, and that's why this bill is so important. We want to restore our environment. We want to revive our coastline. We will work with our First Nations communities and act in partnership to achieve the regeneration of traditional lands and waterways. I would like to take a moment to shout out to the Daniel Andrews government in Victoria for its commitment to the Distinctive Areas and Landscapes Program that will protect special landscapes from development, including residential land development, like the Spring Creek valley in Torquay and key areas in the Bellarine that are home to migratory birds and are near Ramsar wetlands.

In closing, this commitment is a commitment to our communities. It gives hope for our nation's conservation and to environmental groups who have championed this cause for so long. I look forward to working hand in hand with all my local groups, including the Corangamite Climate Alliance, Geelong Sustainability, and local farmers and businesses, to support them in embracing this opportunity. For those who remember Whitlam's time as Prime Minister, who recall the work done and the opportunities missed and who share similar memories of activism in years gone by, be assured that through this bill, together, we will continue the fight to protect our native species and their habitats so they can be enjoyed for generations to come.