The ACT Greens and the Conservation Council ACT Region have condemned the federal government’s decision to approve construction of a new road through critical habitat for the Canberra Grassland Earless Dragon, a species listed as critically endangered.

The Canberra Airport Northern Road was approved in 2009 under federal environmental law, with conditions meant to avoid the dragon’s core habitat by using Defence land. But the Canberra Airport Group later pushed for a more direct route, arguing it was needed to evacuate VIPs and for the airport to grow, despite alternative routes.

The dragon was uplisted to critically endangered in 2023, and then-Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek committed to reviewing protections before the project progressed. Construction began in February this year, while the project was still under review.

Environmental groups and the ACT Greens repeatedly urged both ACT and Federal governments to halt the project, warning it would fragment habitat, increase roadkill, and push the dragon closer to extinction. Although the ACT Government committed funding for emergency conservation efforts, including habitat restoration and dragon breeding programs, critics said the plans were unproven, and no detailed mitigation plan was released.

The road was approved on 30 July.

Critics say the road fragments habitat, increases roadkill risk, and pushes the Dragon closer to extinction. They also question whether proposed mitigation strategies (such as relocating grassland) are viable.

ACT Greens MLA Jo Clay said the decision showed federal Labor had chosen business interests over nature.

“The offsets … are an attempt to buy the goodwill of the community in exchange for habitat degradation, the annihilation of one of our local critters…”

Dr Simon Copland, executive director of the Conservation Council, said the project had gone ahead despite 27 years of opposition.

“The arguments in favour of this road are rubbish. There is already a second evacuation route out of Fairbarn. When will this pointless destruction of our habitat stop? No expensive breeding program can replace the need to retain quality habitat for our Earless Dragon. This is a sorry day for Canberrans and our critically endangered biodiversity.”

The ACT Greens also claim the ACT Government is failing to act on climate change and nature restoration, and that work in progress when the Greens held the portfolios has stopped.

In Budget Estimates last week, Greens leader Shane Rattenbury MLA argue that the government appeared unprepared to replace the ACT’s current Climate Change Strategy, which expires this year.

Ms Clay said Labor was going backwards on environmental care, and that green spaces and key environmental areas would decline without major investments in nature.

Ex-Chief Ministers support Closing the Gap bill

Former Chief Ministers Jon Stanhope and Gary Humphries and more than 35 other community leaders have signed an open letter urging the ACT Legislative Assembly to support independent MLA Thomas Emerson’s Closing the Gap Bill.

If passed, the legislation would make the ACT the first jurisdiction in Australia to legally require public servants to implement the principles of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap in their work.

Mr Emerson said the bill was backed by reviews from the Productivity Commission, the Jumbunna Institute, and Aboriginal-led inquiries, all calling for stronger accountability and systemic reform.

Other signatories include members of the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body, First Nations community leaders, CEOs of local Aboriginal community controlled organisations, and ACT Senator David Pocock.

Natalie Brown, Chair of the Our Booris, Our Way Implementation Oversight Committee, has lodged a petition ahead of the bill’s debate later this year.

“We’ve been talking about Closing the Gap for 20 years,” Mr Emerson said. “Five years have passed since the ACT Government signed the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. Damning reviews have criticised governments across the country for failing to carry out the systemic reforms promised under that agreement. 

“How many reviews have to say the same thing before we see real change? We need the entire ACT Government to step up to its Closing the Gap commitments, which is what this bill will bring about.”

ATSIEB said the bill “goes to the heart of implementing the National Closing the Gap Targets”, and would ensure greater transparency, cultural safety, and community-led decision making in government.

ACT projects don’t pass cost-benefit test

ACT Opposition Leader Leanne Castley MLA has criticised the ACT Government for no longer requiring cost-benefit analysis when deciding on major infrastructure projects, following comments Chief Minister Andrew Barr MLA made during Budget Estimates.

In questioning on 5 August, Ms Castley asked how important it was for major projects to show a benefit-cost ratio (BCR) greater than 1.

Mr Barr replied: “Not important at all. It’s a factor, but if you just made every decision on that basis … there wouldn’t be many projects that would proceed.”

Mr Barr also stated that most projects would have a BCR below 1, and that not every project was assessed to that level of detail.

Ms Castley said the comments confirmed the Canberra Liberals’ concerns that the government was financially irresponsible and invested in projects without proper evaluation.

“ACT Labor have not delivered a surplus in a decade; the deficit for the financial year just gone was $1.3 billion in the red, and now they tell us that they don’t need to listen to any cost-benefit analysis when it comes to spending ACT taxpayers’ money,” Ms Castley said.

Net debt is projected to increase by more than $4.3 billion across forward estimates.

Support for LGBTIQA+ People with Disability

A new ACT Government-funded initiative will provide peer support and advocacy for LGBTIQA+ people with disability, aiming to improve wellbeing and build community.

The three-year, $451,000 Our Voices, Our Spaces program will be delivered by Women with Disabilities ACT (WWDACT) and Inclusive Rainbow Voices, Australia’s only LGBTIQA+ disabled people’s organisation.

Suzanne Orr MLA, Minister for Disability, Carers and Community Services, said the program reflects the government’s commitment to inclusion, equity, and co-designed, community-led solutions.

“LGBTIQA+ people with disability often face intersecting forms of discrimination and exclusion,” Ms Orr said. “This program is about supporting spaces where people can connect, organise, and lead change on their own terms.”

The initiative will be shaped by participants, rather than prescribing specific activities. A part-time project coordinator will support.

WWDACT CEO Kat Reed said the program was “a massive win” for LGBTIQA+ people with disability, while Inclusive Rainbow Voices CEO Katherine Marshall said the initiative would help inform broader policy advocacy.