Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Bilateral Agreement Implementation) Bill 2014. This bill seeks to amend the EPBC Act to facilitate the delegation of environmental approval powers to state and local governments. The bill, along with the bilateral agreements being developed, means that particular activities relating to environmental consents could potentially be placed in the hands of state governments and on some occasions local governments. I have grave concerns about both of these issues and I will detail them throughout this speech. Potentially, it could include issues like World Heritage listed properties, activities like uranium mining or even approvals under the water trigger amendment. These could be given to the control of state governments. We have heard many speakers on this side talk about why that would be a concern.

This bill paves the way for the Prime Minister and his environment minister to irresponsibly hand over those environmental approvals to the states and local councils. The bill would allow the states and local councils to approve developments in some of Australia's most precious environmental ecosystems, which could undoubtedly have disastrous effects on local environments and important tourist attractions. It is a real concern. We looked at those state governments who have no regard for environmental protections. As it is, in my home state of New South Wales, we have a state government that has no concern about environmental protections. In fact, they are environmental vandals.

If we look to some of the changes that could happen, we could firstly look to Queensland, where we could have Premier Campbell Newman potentially approving dredging and dumping in the Great Barrier Reef. That is terrifying. We could have Western Australia Premier Colin Barnett in charge of the Ningaloo reef. Remember that this is the man responsible for the shark cull in Western Australia. That he may potentially have final oversight over some very important issues there really is a great issue of huge concern to people in my electorate. We could also look to Tasmania, where Premier Hodgman and his government could be in charge of Tasmania's iconic World Heritage listed forests. This is again a rather frightening idea. Most alarmingly for my electorate is that, in New South Wales, we could have Premier Mike Baird and the North Coast National Party having total and final control of approvals for all coal seam gas mining applications. I see this element of the legislation as the most terrifying. It is one that many people have raised with me. This legislation is very important to the constituents of Richmond in terms of the effects that it will have on the future approvals of coal seam gas mining developments.

The North Coast state National Party have demonstrated time and time again their pro-CSG agenda and a total disregard for the community and our opposition to harmful coal seam gas mining and unconventional gas mining on the North Coast. Time after time, the state National Party MPs like Don Page, Thomas George, Geoff Provest refuse to listen to our community and to oppose the rollout of the unconventional gas industry on the North Coast. We are seeing the National Party ridiculing those who oppose coal seam gas mining. This past weekend, the New South Wales Nationals had their conference at Queanbeyan. One of the things that was brought up were comments made by the Deputy Premier and the National's leader, Andrew Stoner, the minister for the North Coast—which is quite ironic—about the protesters at the recent blockade. Mr Stoner was reported as having said of those at the blockade:

It broke my heart that some of those professional bludgers thought they had a win.

How appalling is that! There were also these comments reported in a tweet by Jenna Cairney, Deputy Editor of The Land newspaper. In another tweet by Ms Cairney, Mr Stoner was reported to have said:

Mark my word we were prepared to go head to head with that protest group.

I think that is really a reflection of what we see from the New South Wales Nationals. There has been widespread condemnation of the Deputy Premier's comments in relation to that. Of course, what he was referring to at Bentley is the site near Lismore, where exploration for unconventional mining was due to start last month; but, because of massive community opposition, they were forced into a backdown in relation to that. Today, we are hearing that a review of the suspension of Metgasco's licence is due by 25 June, so this is causing more concern on the North Coast. The community's view is very clear. We had thousands of people out at Bentley, protesting Metgasco's licence for that area. It really is quite offensive to have the Deputy Premier making these comments. As I say, it has been widely recognised.

The fact is that the New South Wales state government and the North Coast National Party cannot be trusted when it comes to significant environmental approvals. They cannot be trusted. They have demonstrated that they are not interested in protecting the unique environment of the North Coast from harmful CSG mining. That is one of the many reasons I do not support the handing of environmental powers to the states.

As I have said many times before in this House, Liberal-National governments at many levels tend to be environmental vandals, in contrast to us in the Labor Party. We have a strong history of protecting the environment. This was seen in our amendment to the EPBC Act in 2013 in relation to the water trigger. The water trigger as part of the amendment to the EPBC Act meant that for the first time water resources could be considered as a matter of national environmental significance in relation to environmental approvals. The intention of the amendment of the process relating to water was specifically in relation to coal seam gas and large coalmining developments of national significance. It has become known as the water trigger. It means that coal seam gas and large coalmining developments require federal assessment approval if they are likely to have a significant impact on a water resource. So to a hand full approval power for large and potentially harmful coal seam gas mining projects back to a state government which is essentially an environmental vandal is, quite frankly, reprehensible.

Looking to the New South Wales government, I would like to respond to some of the comments of the member for Gippsland. He will be very interested in this. Remember that this is a government that after winning office in 2011 renewed all the current licences. That is right: they renewed all the current licences when it came to CSG mining projects. The Liberal-National Party own these licences, but the people of the North Coast are fully aware of the National Party spin and deception. The people of the North Coast know that handing over environmental approvals, including the water trigger, to the states is, indeed, irresponsible madness. That is what they are saying—that it is irresponsible madness.

Even worse, in some cases the federal government would be handing environmental approvals over to councils. I would like to refer to a local example. The majority of our councils on the North Coast—such as Tweed, Byron, Lismore, Ballina and Kyogle—are opposed to harmful coal seam gas mining. They have made that very clear and have stood with their communities. But if we turn to the Richmond Valley Council—where the town of Bentley is—they are very pro CSG. So it would be really concerning if you had a councils like that and a National Party mayor such they have in Ernie Bennett out there ticking off on coal seam gas mining. If Mayor Ernie Bennett was responsible for the licence in Bentley, there would be a big tick for that one. He is totally opposed to all the other councils on the North Coast and how they feel about that. I will get to more information about the councils later on.

The risk of contaminating our water resources is not the only concern involved in handing environmental approvals back to the New South Wales state government. A further example of risk is in the Kings Forest development in my electorate of Richmond. This development comprises 4,500 lots on 880 hectares on the Tweed Coast and runs right through known Koala habitat. Upon its completion, Kings Forest will include housing for around 15,000 people and related public infrastructure. Many fantastic local conservation groups, such as Team Koala, have called for a dog ban, speed limits, corridors and overpasses in the housing development to protect koalas living there. This development has been referred to the federal environment minister for approval under the EPBC Act, having already been approved by the New South Wales state government. It goes without saying that for an important and endangered species like our precious koala an extra layer of approval and oversight is essential for their protection.

We are waiting for a decision on this. I have raised this in the House many times. The people in my electorate are very concerned about the outcome of the determination by the minister because they are concerned about having in place adequate protection for the koalas in Kings Forest. So I again call on the Liberal-National Party government and the environment minister to act to protect those koalas in their final development consent in relation to Kings Forest.

Federal oversight through the EPBC Act is also necessary as each state and local government surely has a different perspective on environmental issues. This is exactly why national oversight is required. This bill lacks clarity and it lacks cohesive structure to ensure adequate environmental protection at a national level. When it comes to the environment, some states simply do have any priorities. As I said, when you look at the New South Wales State government's record on CSG mining in my community and their lack of regard for our precious environment, how can they be trusted on anything else of national environmental significance? The fact is that, of course, they cannot be trusted on matters of environmental significance. They just cannot.

This bill goes further than just handing approval powers over to the state governments. It provides the avenue to accredit local government and shire councils to undertake critical assessment and approval processes. This would effectively put local government in charge of the environmental responsibilities of some of Australia's major natural assets. It is simply quite unfair for the federal government to expect local government and shire councils to take on the environmental work of much larger departments that handle this work with often thousands of experts and scientists at their disposal. It is unreasonable to expect shire councils, who do not have at their disposal all of those adequate departmental resources, to make decisions of an environmental nature that are potentially of national significance. The environmental risks associated with this move are quite astounding. It should never be the burden of local government to take on the work that is essentially the responsibility of a state or federal government. That level of pressure would be unduly unfair on our local councils and the resources they have. As I said earlier, we have a perfect example in my electorate with coal seam gas mining of where having a pro-CSG mayor and council is just devastating. So I have grave concerns across a whole range of levels about these powers being delegated to local councils

In conclusion, since 2011 it has been abundantly clear to the people in my electorate of Richmond that the state government of New South Wales that we currently have, the Liberal-National Party government, is not the best custodian of our unique environment. In many cases they have been all too happy to sell off land, subdivide where they want and pollute whatever resources we have, whether that is koala habitats, water resources or precious forests. These are the people who have allowed shooting in our national parks as well. I have said many times that they are environmental vandals. We keep seeing examples of that time and time again. No doubt they will be held to account next March when we have our state election because people have a lot of worries about the extent of that environmental vandalism. Indeed, for us, the issue of coal seam gas mining will be one of those major issues. That is why I do not believe these powers should be delegated to the state governments.

I would also like to take the opportunity to commend the many great groups in my electorate that work very hard to raise these environmental concerns. We have heard speakers from the other side of the House condemning those groups. I want to congratulate a lot of those groups. These people put a lot of time, effort and energy into making sure these concerns across a whole variety of different developments are raised. I have mentioned Kings Forest before and I have mentioned in the House before the community fight to preserve Lot 490 at Kingscliff and preserve that pristine piece of coastal land. That is a major concern there. Also, I commend the people in relation to opposing the West Byron development, which again is a major over-development within our area.

The people in my area really understand about getting the balance right. They understand how important it is to preserve our unique and beautiful natural environment. The reason people move to what is essentially the best address in Australia, the Far North Coast of New South Wales, is that they appreciate our beautiful diversity, our hinterland, our beaches and our remarkable villages and towns. It is an absolutely stunning part of Australia—the best indeed. People are working very hard to preserve that and preserve their beautiful surrounds and the quality of life in the area they have chosen to live in. That is why people are so passionate and concerned about this.

I would like to congratulate all of those groups that work incredibly hard to maintain their position across a whole range of different environmental issues. We have never seen such a strong example of that as the thousands who came together at Bentley to stop that exploration licence. At its peak we had thousands of people there and thousands more were prepared to come out. They were camping out that weekend just before the licence was suspended. I say that it is a real concern now, because in the coming two weeks we are going to have a review of that. I can assure the House you will see the same situation, with thousands of people out there defending our community's right to stop inappropriate and over-scaled harmful exploration and coal-seam gas mining.

I believe the federal government ultimately has a responsibility to protect Australia's precious environment, and the EPBC Act in particular accounts for this. By delegating all of these responsibilities, the Abbott government is showing that it has no interest in protecting Australia's environment for the future. Whilst I understand that there may be a need to look at streamlining, that is fine. In some ways streamlining may be effective, but complete delegation of all these powers to the states—who, as we have said, are environmental vandals—is very irresponsible and reprehensible. The end result of it could be potentially dire for some of our most environmentally significant areas right throughout the country. They could be devastated because of this decision.

It is for these reasons that I do not support this bill. I think the consequences could be dire. People in my electorate have certainly raised with me the fact that they do not want this to happen. They do not want those powers delegated, particularly to our state governments, but also to our councils. I think it is wrong that this government has taken this plan of action. I think it will be devastating for our environment, and the repercussions will be very widespread.

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