THE DRAFT SCORECARD: WHICH POLICIES WILL SAVE THREATENED SPECIES, ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE AND PROTECT THE REEF?

With just three weeks to go until polling day, WWF-Australia has called on the major parties to release their full suite of environment policies.

WWF issued a draft policy scorecard today – evaluating party policies for saving threatened species, protecting the Great Barrier Reef, and addressing climate change.

Policies have been assigned a preliminary traffic light rating of Green (committed to policy), Amber (partial commitment to policy), Red (not met), or a question mark where clarification is needed, or where no clear policy announcement has yet been made.

WWF-Australia CEO Dermot O’Gorman said at this stage in the campaign there had been a mixed bag of policy promises, but there was still time for the parties to deliver before July 2.

“We have seen some strong policies from the Greens, an excellent emissions reduction policy from the ALP, and opportunities around threatened species from the Coalition,” Mr O’Gorman said.

“When it comes to the Great Barrier Reef, neither the Government or Opposition are yet to commit to the scale of investment needed to restore its health, following the worst bleaching event in its history."

“We’ve also seen nothing from the Prime Minister or Opposition Leader as to how they will deal with the wasteful $7 bn per year of polluting fossil fuel subsidies – at a time when we need budget repair."

“While the Greens have outlined a comprehensive vision for the next generation of environmental laws, the Government and Opposition have not yet committed to any plans for change."

“Australians deserve to see how the parties are going to address the enormous challenges facing Australia’s environment."

“We call on all major parties to provide the Australian people with more policies to protect our magnificent wildlife and environment in the coming days and weeks.”

The draft scores are current as at midnight June 8 2016. The final scorecard will be released on Wednesday June 29.

WWF-Australia and the Australian Marine Conservation Society, as part of the Fight for the Reef campaign, will also release a scorecard today, taking a deeper dive into the Reef-related policies of the major parties.

WWF-Australia is a science-based organization, and is proudly non-partisan. WWF does not endorse parties, but does evaluate and communicate policies, on their merits. WWF never directs people how to vote.

WWF-Australia Media Contact: Daniel Rockett, National Media Manager, 0432 206 592, drockett@wwf.org.au