1270. Hon ALISON XAMON to the Minister for Environment:
I refer to the outcomes and key effectiveness indicators for the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions listed on page 676 of the Western Australia State Budget 2020–21. Why has the budget target percentage of recovery plans for critically endangered and endangered taxa and ecological communities been reduced?
Hon STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question.
The budget allocation remains consistent and the adjustment to the key effectiveness indicator reflects the mathematical reality of an increase in the number of species and ecological communities anticipated to be listed as critically endangered and endangered in 2020–21 relative to the number of recovery plans that can be prepared within existing budget parameters.