ICIN SAVANNA FIRE FORUM
DARWIN CONVENTION CENTRE
THURSDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 2026
Subjects: First Nations, ACCU Savanna Fire Method, greenhouse emissions, climate change
Introduction
I’d like to begin by saying ‘kaya’, which is how we say ‘g’day’ in Walyalup or Fremantle where I’m from.
It’s a privilege and a joy to be back here on Larrakia Country for the Savanna Fire Forum, and I thank ICIN for the opportunity to join you again, as I did last year.
I acknowledge the Larrakia people and pay my respects to their elders, past and present, and I extend my respects to all First Nations people here.
While it’s true to say that I have a Ministerial responsibility to learn from and collaborate with you, the reality is that I find it personally energising every time I get to check-in with people who are leading the fundamental work that we call ‘Caring for Country’: Traditional Owners, rangers, land managers, innovators, and scientists.
This is a great way to start the new year at a time when the value of our work together is already huge, and the importance of our work together is growing with the turn of every season.
That work requires new solutions to big challenges – but it also requires being prepared to draw upon our greatest and most enduring strength as a country whose bedrock is the longest continuous civilisation on earth.
Savanna fire management is based on scientific knowledge and land stewardship practice that First Nations pioneered a long, long time ago.
Friends, this summer has shown us that climate change is not a distant or abstract challenge. Communities and landscapes across Australia have faced record-breaking heat waves, wild cyclones, devastating bushfires, and floods.
Last year we launched Australia’s first National Climate Risk Assessment which provided the most comprehensive and science-backed picture of how chronic climate effects and acute climate events will impact across 11 Australian sub-regions and 8 systems of life, from our environment to our economy to our health system and key infrastructure.
It was a sobering report – but not a surprising picture for those who are dedicated to this vital field of work.
It showed that we are already living with climate change impacts in the form of chronic effects like warming and drying trends, and in the form of more frequent and more intense climate hazards like bushfires, storms, and floods.
This reinforces the need for action that’s practical, proven and suited to our landscape: one with Strong Roots and Strong Futures, which is the apt and timely theme of this forum.
It requires action to mitigate against a dangerous climate by reducing emissions in Australia and being active in the global cooperative effort under the Paris Climate Agreement.
And it requires action to adapt to the change that is already with us, or that can’t be avoided.
The Albanese government is crystal clear about that imperative, and we have wasted no time in putting Australia on an ambitious but practical path when it comes to both mitigation and adaptation.
Our support for strengthening and expanding the ACCU Scheme to include more activities – including the Savanna Fire Management methods – makes a significant contribution to each of those tasks. And I’ll come back to that in a minute.
One reality that the National Climate Risk Assessment has reinforced for us all is that the impacts of climate change will be felt most sharply in areas that already face challenges – and certainly in rural, regional, and remote Australia.
That means a couple of things. First, it means we need to focus our effort in communities and landscapes that represent the greatest exposure and the greatest vulnerability.
Second, it provides an opportunity for us in making the energy transition and in tilting our effort towards adaptation and risk-reduction, to also deliver co-benefits that go to addressing those existing challenges.
That opportunity will only be realised if we do things differently. It will only be realised by working in genuine partnerships where the effort goes towards solutions that begin with local knowledge, lived experience, agency, and leadership.
That’s the approach I am taking to an endeavour that will shape our shared wellbeing in the 21st Century.
The creation of the Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area Climate Resilience Centre with $15.4 million in Commonwealth funding is a good example: an outcome that supports Climate Resilience Officers on the ground in keeping with the model preferred by Traditional Owners and regional governance. And last September, I visited Masig, Sabai, and Thursday Island to hear and see first-hand both the present risks and some effective responses.
Before that I had the privilege of speaking at the launch of the 2024 First Nation Peoples Statement on Climate Change at the National Environment Science Program’s Climate Adaptation conference in Perth, and to make a contribution to the 3rd National First Peoples Gathering on Climate Change in Dubbo audience.
Each of those engagements allowed me to connect with First Nations leaders. I emphasised that it is an article of faith for a government led by Anthony Albanese that no one should be left out of the opportunities that are being created from Australia’s transition to a clean energy future.
Reducing emissions the traditional way
To come back to the Savanna Fire Management methods – I’m very conscious that it would be a strange reversal of common sense if I stood here and outlined the remarkable features of this enterprise to all of you, considering the incredible expertise in this room, and considering the fact that my personal experience of fire management involves a backyard pizza oven.
But the story of the Savanna Fire Management methods should be told and celebrated.
And when I’m trying to help colleagues and people in the broader community understand what in many ways can be regarded as the flagship ACCU method, the points I make are:
That cool season burning, practiced in accordance with First Nations knowledge, helps prevent large-scale fires, which reduces emissions, protects the environment, and promotes a healthier and more biodiverse landscape.
Savanna fire projects improve fire management across 34 million hectares of Northern Australian savanna – which is an area the size of Germany.
Nearly three-quarters of the abatement achieved under this method has occurred through projects managed by Indigenous carbon businesses.
Indeed, since 2012, Indigenous-led projects have contributed to the abatement of around 11.1 million tonnes of emissions.
And ICIN estimates that the Indigenous carbon industry is valued at $59 million dollars a year – sustaining the employment of hundreds of Indigenous people in some of Australia’s most remote places.
At a time when there are plenty of complex challenges, wicked problems, and bleak indicators of climate risk, it is vital that we recognise and lean into examples of repair, effective stewardship, and hope.
And the Savanna Fire Management methods are absolutely a success story by those measures.
And it’s a story that resonates on the global stage.
More opportunities through boosting ACCU integrity and new methods
Friends, as I have suggested, the Australian Carbon Credit Unit Scheme is an integral part of Australia’s decarbonisation project.
It is delivering direct emission reductions and carbon sequestration, and it has an important role in supporting the required downhill pathway for industrial emissions in keeping with our legislated target of achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
As I’ve said before, that pathway has to be and is ambitious; but it also has to be practical if we are to achieve that ambition – and the ACCU Scheme underpins the successful transition of industry under the Safeguard Mechanism.
And then – as if that critical function was not impressive enough – ACCUs also create and deliver economic value through income for regional and remote businesses and communities, including Traditional Owners, farmers, First Nations-led enterprises, PBCs, and so on.
At the same time ACCU activities in many cases deliver environmental restoration and positive biodiversity outcomes. Our landscapes are better adapted and more resilient to the climate change impacts that are already here
For all these reasons, it’s absolutely crucial we maintain forward momentum and market confidence in the ACCU Scheme as a whole; that we cherish and enhance the scientific rigour, governance, and accountability that has made integrity the core strength of the ACCU market, while we expand opportunities to apply traditional knowledge and 21st century innovation in tackling climate change and caring for Country.
That is pretty much my mission statement for this term of government – and I am grateful and energised to be asked by the PM and Minister Bowen to take on that task in partnership with you.
This year we intend to settle the legislative scheme reforms that respond to the Chubb Review.
As we have committed to do, those changes will see the removal of the option to conditionally register ACCU projects on Native Title lands without having achieved properly informed prior consent.
That change is not just a matter of just process; it’s a change that goes to the quality of the project – because the best form of this land management occurs in partnership with Traditional Owners.
On the method development front, at the end of last year the independent committee responsible for providing advice to me on the integrity of methods – the ERAC or Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee – undertook consultation on two proposed new Savanna Fire Management methods, namely:
This represents a significant step forward, and I want to acknowledge and express gratitude for the considerable contributions of many people in this room over many years.
From the earliest data collection and design to incorporate First Nations knowledge and practices honed on country over Millenia into a 21st century carbon abatement method; through all the project activities and monitoring of the past 20 years; and with all the input and engagement from stakeholders to the recent ERAC public consultation – we have only reached this point because of the sustained leadership and effort of Traditional Owners, Land Councils, Indigenous-led businesses, and peak bodies, along with a broad ecosystem of carbon service providers, environmental NGOs, science agencies, technical experts and more.
Because of the way it relates to my work and the guidance I receive, I’d like to give a shout-out to Suzanne Thompson on the ERAC for the focus she brings to supporting increased participation and benefits for First Nations communities from the carbon crediting scheme.
And I have to give special thanks to ICIN for its vital contribution in organising and running workshops to reflect the primacy of First Nations perspectives on the proposed new methods.
There is nothing that makes me feel more positive about the progress of our work together early in 2026 than the Departmental advice that I have received which tells me that we have now reached the final stage of delivering two new Savanna Fire Management methods.
Following the end of the consultation, the ERAC met last week and will shortly provide its advice to me on the integrity of the proposed methods.
And without getting ahead of the steps that must occur through a proper process, I do expect to announce my decision with respect to making the new methods in the coming months.
Building on that progress, there are further new methods in the pipeline that will bring a wider range of abatement opportunities to the ACCU scheme.
The draft Integrated Farm and Land Management method is a great example – and it is undergoing consultation as we speak.
IFLM will be the first method to allow crediting of multiple activities that abate emissions or store carbon on the same property, and we expect that over time it will enable more diverse, flexible, and complementary approaches.
That is also the case with the 4 proponent-led methods that have been prioritised for development.
These include a method to extend Savanna Fire Management to the Northern Arid Zone, led by the Indigenous Desert Alliance, and a method led by the Northern Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance and the University of Queensland to reduce the disturbance of coastal and floodplain wetlands by managing ungulates.
And of course, we’re keen to see the kinds of activities that will be valued through Nature Repair Market operating alongside ACCU method activities – with the first project under both schemes starting last year.
All this work is in line with the Chubb Review recommendations that called on government to bring forward more innovative ways to reduce emissions while creating more opportunities and fair value for First Nations-led stewardship.
Boosting Indigenous participation
The final topic I’d like to address briefly is about First Nations participation in carbon farming as a matter of equity and as matter of Australia’s national interest.
I am glad that we have provided an additional $27.8 million in funding for the expanded Carbon Farming Outreach Program to support that uplift, and I’m grateful that ICIN will deliver outreach on emissions reduction and ACCU participation through that program.
And as a result of the partnership that delivered the First Nations Clean Energy Strategy in late 2024, we’re now strengthening First Nations involvement in the clean energy transition.
That effort includes embedding benefit sharing in legislation and policy; funding projects through ARENA; and funding the strategy’s implementation with a $70 million dollar investment to support pilot projects, low-barrier grants that provide access to advice and expertise for building capability.
As a sign of what’s possible, I’m really encouraged by the work being undertaken by First Nations advisory firm Ekistica to develop models for improved energy security and reliability in remote communities, including here in the NT.
Conclusion
Friends, as I have learned from you, First Nations leadership through traditional science, knowledge, and stewardship of country is an essential part of Australia’s climate action.
Long before climate change entered our vocabulary, First Nations people were responding to climate variability over millennia.
Some of the oldest human accounts of dramatic sea level rise are the testimony in song of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Where I’m from, the Whadjuk-Noongar people remember the time when you could walk from Walyalup to Wadjemup.
But in the face of past climatic change, First Nations people maintained healthy landscapes and ecosystems through hard-won knowledge of weather, seasons, and fire management practice that our science today is still catching-up with.
Savanna fire management has already proven its value to our 21st century imperative of tackling dangerous climate change.
There’s no doubt we have to build on that success – for the sake of reducing emissions and to build resilience across Northern Australia – and I am committed to seeing that occur as a priority of my work in 2026.
I recognise 100% that our success can only be built on the foundation of your ongoing stewardship of this Country and your deep custodial relationship with its lands and waters.
Thank you again for your leadership, your engagement and friendship, and for demonstrating what we can and must achieve to avoid dangerous climate change.
ENDS
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