The troubling State of the Environment report released on Tuesday left no doubt as to the grave predicament facing Australia’s precious natural assets. It outlined a litany of woes, from acidic seas to denuded plains, and plant and animal species on the slow march to annihilation. The report was overwhelmingly sad. It was also, one might hope, a call to action.

That action is largely in the hands of the new Labor government and its Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek. In a speech on Tuesday, Plibersek acknowledged the urgent need for change and foreshadowed a suite of reforms.

But a proper overhaul of Australia’s environment laws is a notoriously difficult policy task. There’s no way to please everyone. Many noses will be knocked out of joint, and political enemies made.

As Laura Schuijers and Thomas Newsome write today, the devil will be in the detail of Labor’s new policies. The changes must be courageous and wide-ranging – and come with adequate funding attached. Success, and failure, must be rigorously measured and reported. And slowing climate change must be front and centre in the government response.

There’s much at stake, and very little time. As you read this, just a few mating pairs of some bird species remain outside captivity. Bulldozers are clearing the last patches of native scrub from already barren landscapes. Australia’s wild places need our help now more than ever – and we also need them. Because the report made one thing clear: as this ancient continent’s ecosystems collapse, so too does their ability to support human life.

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