Address to the Environmental Defence Society Conference 2026
Source: Nathan Ellen Johnson, Pexels
The Commissioner addressed the Environmental Defence Society Annual Conference identifying that concurrent resource management and local government reforms could be “messy” if river catchments are fragmented.
He outlined that effective environmental management depends on aligning institutions with the functions they are expected to perform, not the other way around. He called for a clearer role for central government in environmental monitoring, science, compliance and research, while raising concerns about proposed reductions in environmental research funding.
"If potentially serious environmental implications of current resource management and institutional reforms are to be avoided, we need a coherent statement of the management and research functions that are in play and a sensible discussion about where they are best located and how they are funded. Form should follow function."