Sydney Harbour to receive $54m for repair and protection after ‘decade of neglect’

Culturally and environmentally significant sites in Sydney Harbour will be repaired and protected with a $45m investment in Tuesday's budget that the federal environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, claims is needed after "a decade of neglect".

The money will be used to shore up a range of harbourside sites, including unstable seawalls and deteriorating wharves at Cockatoo Island, also known as Wareamah, and critical maintenance to keep sites open to tourists.

"Our world-famous Sydney Harbour is a source of pride, a magnet for tourists and a hub of business, trade and city life and yet the previous government badly bungled the management of this national treasure," Plibersek said.

"The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust is responsible for conserving and managing nine iconic sites around the harbour. After a decade of neglect by the previous government, many of these sites are in a dangerous state of disrepair, putting their environmental and heritage values at risk."

More than $25m will go towards replacing rotting wharves and docks; $8m for repairs causing immediate safety concerns including rock falls from cliffs; $5m for critical maintenance works; and more than $3m for heritage advice and project management.

The trust is tasked with the oversight of nine key sites across Sydney, including Chowder Bay in Mosman, the Macquarie Lightstation in Vaucluse, the Woolwich Dock and parklands; and the marine biological station at Camp Cove in Watsons Bay.

The Sydney-based minister said the harbour was one of the nation's "most prominent faces to the world", created thousands of jobs and attracted 2 million visitors every year to sites managed by the trust, and needed to be protected.

"It also is a priceless site of Australian history - telling our story of 65,000 years of First Nations connection and culture, the colonial period which began on its shores, the military posts which have defended it, and the waves of new Australians who have disembarked there," she said.

Plibersek said the government was pouring money into important places that she wanted to be enjoyed by coming generations.

"One of the chief tasks of this budget has been restoring Australia's environmental institutions after a decade of hostility and neglect," she said.

"We want to protect our precious places and support the Australians who manage them, so they can be enjoyed for generations to come."

The government has already announced an extra $262m for national parks and $163m for the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

The budget will be handed down on Tuesday.