Queensland Government Cuts All Funding to Environmental Defenders Office

The Queensland government has decided to cut all state funding for the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO), a not-for-profit legal service providing free environmental legal advice, ending a $500,000 annual grant that has supported about 1,500 Queenslanders over five years. This decision breaks a pre-election promise made by the Liberal National Party (LNP) to continue funding the EDO, as highlighted by former shadow environment minister Sam O'Connor's public commitments and subsequent email affirmations. EDO chief executive David Morris expressed deep concern over the funding loss, warning it will force the organization to turn away many clients due to staffing shortages, affecting farmers, First Nations people, and regional communities seeking legal help for complex environmental issues. The government maintains that it honored Labor's previous funding arrangement, which expired in June 2025, and no additional budget has been allocated beyond that period. Critics, including 36 leading conservationists and environmental groups, condemned the cut, comparing it to similar funding withdrawals under former Premier Campbell Newman and accusing the current government of breaking multiple election promises. The controversy follows legal challenges by the EDO, including a costly court loss involving a gas pipeline project, which some federal politicians and industry groups have cited as reasons to question the organization's credibility.