The Labor government should use the upcoming 2012/13 federal budget to make good on its promise to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, conservationists say.
Scrapping tax breaks to the oil and gas sector and tweaking other wasteful incentives are top of the Australian Conservation Foundation's budget submission wishlist.
But it has also urged the government to reform the budget as a whole, ensuring all future decisions are made with the environment in mind.
It wants national environmental reporting and targets integrated into the budget process and a sustainability impact assessment performed on each budget in its entirety.
The foundation said the government had pledged to reduce fossil fuel subsidies as part of a commitment made by the G20 in September 2009, but had yet to come good on its word.
It calculates the government could save $120 million in 2012/13, rising to $1.4 billion in the fifth year, by removing accelerated depreciation for oil and gas assets.
There's another $2.2 billion worth of savings next year alone by reforming the fuel tax credits program and cutting tax breaks for aviation fuel.
The foundation has suggested a modest $541 million spend for where the money should go, including the protection of marine ecosystems, land management in the Kimberley and more sustainability education in schools.
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