Stephen Bates (Brisbane, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

We are in the middle of a climate emergency that has been fuelled by multinational corporations, and our environment is paying the price. Right now, we require bold and urgent action to save our unique biodiversity that is under threat. Unfortunately, the first major piece of legislation the Labor environment minister has introduced is an enormous disappointment, verging on a corporate scam.

The Nature Repair Market Bill establishes the nature repair market. When first spruiking the bill, the environment minister said that it would hopefully create a 'green Wall Street', with companies making major investments in projects that protect our environment. However, in an estimates hearing on 23 May, the department of the environment conceded that they had not completed any modelling on how much investment this market could generate. Instead, the department pointed to an independent report which stated that $137 billion could be unlocked to repair and protect Australia's environment by 2050. This independent report was authorised by none other than PwC, the very same PwC that is currently under a huge international crisis after one of their partners handed over confidential Treasury information to make it easier for corporations to dodge taxes and rip off the Australian people. After releasing this independent report last year, PwC then coincidentally opened its new Centre for Nature Positive Business in April of this year. It sounds confusing and alarming. That's because this bill is exactly that, and it's not just because of PwC's involvement.

How does the environment minister propose this bill will work? Under the bill, landholders like farmers, First Nations groups, corporations or local councils can conduct a project which intends to protect or preserve biodiversity. Once this project is complete or underway, they can apply for a unique biodiversity certificate from the Clean Energy Regulator. They can then sell that certificate to an interested person in the market. If you're still confused, let's imagine an example. A local council undertakes erosion mitigation work on a beach and then applies for one of these certificates. Once that is gained, the council sells it on to a corporation, like a multinational fossil fuel corporation, let's say Santos. Under this bill, Santos is well within its rights to use the certificate to offset the omissions they create by digging into the earth to profit from Australia's natural resources while making the climate crisis worse. Essentially, the exact opposite of protecting the environment.

This is a reheated version of a bill the LNP introduced when they were in government. The LNP have said they might support the passage of this bill through parliament—and why wouldn't they when they wrote the original? This Labor government has committed to establishing an independent environmental watchdog and reviewing the outdated Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conversation Act. These are welcome commitments, but Labor has gone into radio silence on them. It is nonsensical to introduce this Nature Repair Market Bill before these sorely needed reforms. This is policymaking on the run, and it should be condemned. This bill is so rushed that it proposes the Clean Energy Regulator will have to approve the unique biodiversity certificates. This will require the regulator to assess environmental projects, something completely outside of their original remit.

Of most concern is that this bill will expand the carbon offset scheme. This scheme is under review due to the rorting undertaken by corporations and its overall inefficiency in actually delivering absolutely anything positive for the climate and environment. This time last year, the former head of the government's Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee, Professor Andrew Macintosh, said the offset is 'largely a sham'. This bill heralds the marketisation of our environment. It is simply an extension of this government's neo-liberal agenda of outsourcing its responsibilities to private interests and corporations to solve our nation's biggest issues because it is too reluctant to front up and do it itself. They're so reluctant because their funds are tied up with society-destroying projects like negative gearing or capital gains tax discounts, the stage 3 tax cuts and nuclear submarines. The action of those on the government benches do not match their supposed commitment to reversing climate change and protecting our environment. This bill wants to extend the Frankenstein scam of carbon credits in the name of protecting our wetlands, native forests and rivers.

I could stand here for the rest of the evening discussing the serious concerns I have with this bill—

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