Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Standards and Assurance) Bill 2021. The legacy of the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government when it comes to protecting our environment and protecting our incredible natural habitats, our biodiversity and our flora and fauna in this country is one of national shame. It is of national shame that this government have had eight long years, three terms—asking for four; asking for 12 years—of administering this country and, in that time, we have seen a missed opportunity of protecting and increasing the protections of our environment and our biodiversity.

The EPBC Act has an inbuilt review every 10 years. The government appointed Professor Graeme Samuel because they thought that the professor was going to give them what they wanted in the review—but he didn't. He did an outstanding review and he came up with some key recommendations when it comes to protecting our environment. Those recommendations revolve around a pretty clear, simple idea: that, in order to legislate and bring the EPBC Act into the 21st century, the key principle is that the government needs national standards when it comes to managing our environment. The federal government needs to have standards when it comes to managing our environment and our biodiversity in this country. But this is now the second amendment to the EPBC Act under this environment minister, and both times they have ignored this key recommendation of Professor Samuel—this key recommendation that says that Australia needs national standards when it comes to managing our environment.

But it's hardly surprising that the government are unable to bring in legislation that reflects Professor Samuel's recommendation—because they don't have national standards. Just like the way in which they've managed the pandemic, they're managing the environment by wanting to give all the responsibility to the states. That's what they did in the pandemic, and that's what they're trying to do with national environmental standards. The other key recommendation of Professor Samuel is that there should be a watchdog, an agency, to enforce the rules, to enforce these national standards, for managing our environment. But, of course, this government again has failed to meet the recommendations of Professor Samuel.

But Labor have a different approach. I, like many Labor true believers, was proud to come together at the Labor National Conference only a few months ago. We did it virtually. Sam Lane was the MC. It was a cracking affair. One of the great policy commitments that came out of the national conference was a complete rewrite of the EPBC Act—that we as the Labor Party would respect the science; that we believe in national standards when it comes to protecting our environment; that we on this side of the House don't want to see the continuation of decades of degradation, habitat removal and destruction of our natural wonders in this country; that we on this side of the House want to see strengthened environmental protections through the federal government, legislated through this place, in our national parliament. It should not be a responsibility and a standard that's given only to the states. This should be something that this House does—and what a legacy that would be.

But, of course, the government refuse to even respond to their own review, conducted by their own review process. They are incapable of even responding to that—much like the Halton review into quarantine. They set that up. Jane Halton came up with a whole range of recommendations and they've completely ignored her and sat on that as well. What's the point of having all these reviews by these eminent Australians if you are not going to listen to them and implement the recommendations? But that is the story of this government, and that is the story of the EPBC Act under this government.

If you want to see the commitment that this government and this Minister for the Environment have to the environment, you need only look at how quickly the minister was willing to withdraw her live exports bill when she got promoted into cabinet. There was a bill under the previous member for Corangamite—who's now a member of the other place—and under the member for Farrer. It's funny what a promotion will do! They were both committed to the cause, committed to protecting animals and committed to the welfare of our animals in this country, but that was quickly withdrawn once the Prime Minister—after a bit of a stint on the sidelines, I have to say. The minister went shopping on the Gold Coast and ended up losing her spot in the ministry. But then the Prime Minister brought her back into the cabinet on the condition that obviously, clearly the live export bill was withdrawn. If you want to see the commitment that this minister has to her values you only need to look at the fact that she was willing to withdraw her own bill.

You cannot have a discussion in this country about the EPBC Act, about the loss of habitat, about the loss of Australian wildlife without looking at Australia's contribution to the reduction of global emissions. This week—it's only Wednesday! It's extraordinary. It's only Wednesday. Goodness me, it has been a long week. It started this week by the return of the member for New England to the leadership of the National Party. If ever there were a party committed to the destruction of Australia's natural wildlife and habitat it is the National Party of Australia. I have serious, grave concerns about what's going to happen under the new returned leadership of the member for New England.

If you want to see the effects of global warming you only need to look at this week where UNESCO has designated the Great Barrier Reef as an extreme danger zone. There's every chance that our grandkids aren't going to see the Great Barrier Reef in the same way that we did. So what's the member for new England's idea? What does he want to do? He wants to make the Clean Energy Finance Corporation—not the fossil fuel climate finance corporation; the Clean Energy Finance Corporation—a government body that can invest in building and invest in coal-fired power stations. I've got news for the member for New England: there won't be another coal-fired power station built in this country—it just makes no economic sense—unless the government is willing to spend billions and billions of taxpayer dollars to basically buy and fund the whole thing. That's the only way. I know they've made promises to build the Collinsville power station but it ain't going to happen unless the economic vandals on that side decide to use more taxpayer funds for their own political purposes.

You cannot have a discussion about the protection of the environment without also admitting, contributing and acknowledging that Australia must do more to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in this country—they go hand in hand. Under the member for New England, the new Deputy Prime Minister, this government will do everything in their power to put more bills like this in the House which weaken environmental protection and more bills in the House which take Australia not forward but backwards. That's what this government wants. That's what the member for New England wants. He wants to take Australia backwards.

I'm proud to represent the seat of Macnamara. Inside Macnamara we are dedicated to protecting the environment. There are a number of local organisations and a number of local places that are dedicated to protecting the environment. In the city of Melbourne there is limited space. There are a lot of people living pretty close together so we know the value of a bit of open space in Macnamara.

There are two places in Macnamara that are especially dedicated to the environment. The first one of course is Westgate Park. Westgate Park is an incredible oasis near the city of Melbourne that is purely dedicated to local flora, local wildlife and indigenous plants. It is a wonderful place to be, and you can just feel the authenticity of that place when you walk through there. I was pleased to join the Australian Conservation Foundation, only a few months ago, to go and plant some trees. I planted the 10,000th tree this year at Westgate Park. I think it's still growing! And I really enjoyed that morning. It was a great morning on Saturday, where I was able to go and spend some time and plant some of the indigenous plants with some local volunteers. It's been obviously a very stressful time, but everyone there felt relaxed and felt really pleased to be in that place. It's a special place. If you ever do come to Melbourne, I would highly recommend anyone going for a walk through Westgate Park.

The other one of course is old Elsternwick Golf Course, which is being turned into a wetlands in Elwood. It's right on the border of my electorate and the member for Goldstein's electorate. That is going to be one of the most incredible local assets. It's one of the largest pieces of land that is being returned to the environment in the urban parts of Melbourne. It's a place that is, much like Westgate Park, going to be dedicated to indigenous plants and Australian wildlife, giving a safe haven to local birds and local animals. The friends of the Elsternwick Park as well as the Port Phillip EcoCentre and all of the volunteers do incredible work there. I want to take this opportunity to say, also to the Bayside Council who are doing the bulk of the work, that we are absolutely still committed to this project. It is really exciting. It's going to completely transform Elwood, and we are really proud of that project.

Can I take this opportunity to wish a big congratulations to the Port Phillip EcoCentre, located in the heart of St Kilda, and the Victorian Labor government. They were able to secure almost $3 million to build the redevelopment of the eco-centre. It was a commitment that we proudly made in the lead-up to the last election. Unfortunately, we weren't able to deliver that commitment, but the Victorian government with the hard work of the local member Martin Foley, who's the Minister for Health—and who is doing an outstanding job, working day and night at the moment to keep the people of Victoria safe—still found time to secure funding for this wonderful local organisation. I'm really looking forward to seeing this project come to life and seeing it be realised in the heart of St Kilda. It's really a hub for environmental education. It's going to be a hub for research. It's going to be a community hub as well, much like it is at the moment, but it's going to be state of the art. It's going to be renewable and fabulous for everyone to enjoy, and I couldn't be prouder to be a supporter, to have committed to it at the last election, to have seen my friend the Minister for Health, Martin Foley, commit to it and the Victorian government commit to it. It is going to be a wonderful local project.

I conclude my remarks by saying that, much like the last election, the next one will see a huge contrast in the respect and the commitment to protecting our environment and our biodiversity in this country. If you want to see the differences between the coalition and the Labor Party, one government wants to trash the environment, to release all control, to give it to the states, and on the other side, on this side of the House, we proudly say that we want to do our bit to protect the environment and to pass that most basic of tests: Did we leave this place better off than when we found it? Did we leave this country just a bit better off than when we found it? If we are able to say that our time in this place achieved that little goal, then that will be a goal worth achieving. But it won't happen if we keep pulling up pieces of legislation like this. What we need is strong national standards. What we need is strong protection for the environment, and it's clear you're only going to get it from this side of the House.

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