The Environment Minister says she is "sick to death" of a false dichotomy being presented by Labor that pitched housing against environmental protection, hitting out at the government's response to recommendations to protect the environment.
Rebecca Vassarotti, a member of the Greens, delivered the response to the 2023 State of the Environment report in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday but said it would have gone further if the decision had been hers alone.
"While I presented the government response, this is only as far as the Labor majority government was prepared to go. And we have to recognise that the response as it stands won't substantially improve our environmental protection in the ACT," Ms Vassarotti told The Canberra Times.
The Environment Minister said she was also concerned the Planning Minister was responsible for expanding the ACT's nature reserves.
"If we're going purely off evidence, we're going to need to expand our reserves. But at the moment, that's a decision that's in the hands of the planners," she said.
The government did not agree in full to any of the 30 recommendations. Recommendations were either agreed in principle, noted or described as being "existing government policy".
"I want to see environmental protection and housing supply as complementary sections of government, not competing siblings," she said.
The report recommended halting Canberra's urban sprawl, developing climate change adaptation plans for key sectors, greater independence for the Conservator of Flora and Fauna, and setting targets for indirect greenhouse gas emissions for all government operations.
The report, released in March, had also recommended the government develop an extreme heat policy for the ACT and consider establishing a chief heat officer.
The government response said it noted the recommendation to limit urban sprawl. The Greens will take a policy of setting city limits for Canberra to the election in October.
Ms Vassarotti said it was possible to deliver more housing and achieve conservation outcomes.
"So I am pretty frustrated that we are being very cautious. We've seen it, when we're in a health emergency, we have immediate action. But in an environmental crisis, we put off big action, the hard decisions that really would rapidly scale up our response," she said.
Ms Vassarotti said the Greens would continue to pursue recommendations from the state of the environment report.
"It definitely is unfinished business and we'll be making it clear for the rest of this term of parliament and into the next some of the key decisions that we need to make," she said.
Sustainability and environment commissioner Sophie Lewis, who prepared the report, expressed her disappointment at the government's response.
"Saddened today that despite recognising the race against time to protect our environment, the ACT government have not agreed in full to any of the 30 recommendations of the 2023 ACT State of the Environment Report," Dr Lewis wrote on LinkedIn on Thursday.
The Greens were sharply critical of Planning Minister Chris Steel's decision in March to use grandfathered call-in powers to approve housing development in Canberra's west.
Ms Vassarotti said she was "blindsided" and concerned by the decision, saying she found out by reading The Canberra Times.
