LABOR WILL CLEAN UP URBAN RIVERS AND WATERWAYS

Shadow Minister for the Environment and Water, Tony Burke MP, joined Federal Member for Blair, Shayne Neumann MP, at Cribb Park in Ipswich to reaffirm that a Shorten Labor Government will restore urban rivers to their natural beauty.

The 200 million investment will unlock grant funding for projects to clean up our rivers including:

Building wetlands to capture and clean and filter stormwater.
Revegetation and tree planting along corridors.
Citizen science and education programs along creeks and corridors, including bush kinder.
Bird boxes and waste capture.
Employment of indigenous rangers.
Turning urban waterways back in to creeks and rivers again through changing hard surfaces back to natural surfaces (cement turned to river banks).

Despite rapid urban development, our waterways are often home to many species of wildlife, fish and birds. Reinvigorating these spaces will create new habitat for animals that have been struggling to find a home.

These rivers are the principal waterways to our oceans - that's why this project is so important to intercept storm water waste and catch it before it makes it to the ocean.

Labor has a proud history of protecting our environment. To be good custodians of our country we need to make sure that we have sustainable and long term policies in place.

This is why Labor has made progressive and sensible policies to act on climate change, large scale land clearing, to protect our oceans from over fishing and marine pollution and to clean up our rivers - whether they be in the Murray-Darling Basin or in the suburbs of our major cities.
In contrast, the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government have consistently failed to provide federal environment programs that adequately address the urgent need for urban river rehabilitation.

Our cities were built around beautiful, natural rivers because they are a great opportunity to stay connected to nature. Labor will work to restore our urban rivers and river banks to health so that they are a place for local recreation and connection to nature, not an alternative to the rubbish tip.

Only Labor is serious about protecting the environment and making sure it's there for future generations to enjoy - action on climate change, investing in the environment, and maintaining Australia's status as the "great outdoors".

To nominate an urban river or waterway go to: https://www.tonyburke.com.au/urbanrivers/