Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Deputy Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to repeat that. The current Leader of the Opposition laughed about rising sea levels in the Pacific, something our Pacific neighbours still raise with the foreign minister. I think it is worth repeating. Now, we have him trying to weaken environment laws. He wants to give projects like Clive Palmer's coalmine on the doorstep of the Great Barrier Reef, which the minister blocked, the green light. I guess we know who he considers his constituents to be.

The Albanese government went to the election promising a strong, national, independent environment protection agency, and today we are delivering. After a wasted decade under those opposite, Labor is getting on with the job. We are delivering more than ever on programs, projects, policies and actions to create a nature-positive Australia. No government has done more for the environment and climate than the Albanese Labor government. Labor wants to see our precious natural landscapes repaired instead of continuing to decline, as we saw under those opposite—under a decade of environmental vandalism.

The choices before parliament are clear: Do you want an independent environment protection agency? Do you want better data to inform environmental decisions? Do you want tougher penalties for those breaking environmental laws? And do you want Australia to be the first jurisdiction in the world to enshrine a definition of 'nature positive' in legislation? Our new EPA, Environment Protection Australia, along with Environment Information Australia, will ensure compliance with environment laws. It will improve processes for business. It will integrate environmental data collections. This will mean that there is consistent and reliable information on the state of the environment across the country, to inform decision-making and track our progress against our goals, like protecting 30 per cent of our land and oceans by 2030.

Everybody agrees that the current regulatory system doesn't work—environment groups, business, developers and this government. Under Labor, we will fix our laws so they're less bureaucratic and provide more certainty for business. But we will also make sure they improve nature, protect our unique native animals and plants, and prevent extinctions. That's what my constituents expect of us, and that's what we're delivering. Last year, Labor passed legislation to establish the world's first Nature Repair Market. We also increased the reach of our environmental laws so that the minister for the environment must now assess all unconventional gas projects, including shale gas, that trigger our environmental laws.

We're now moving quickly to establish an environment protection agency and Environment Information Australia. These are crucial elements of our plans to create a nature-positive Australia, and we want to get them in place as soon as possible so they can begin their important work. After a decade of wrecking under those opposite, the environment needs our protection and we need these protections in place as quickly as possible so we can continue to move onto the next stage of environmental legislation. Combined with significant additional funding, this stage of reforms will deliver stronger environment powers, faster environment approvals, more environment information and greater transparency. These are big steps forward for the environment and for business, and it's all new under this government. We're establishing Australia's first national independent environment protection agency with strong new powers and penalties to better protect nature. It is hard to believe, but we've never had a national EPA.

Our EPA is an important part of delivering the government's Nature Positive Plan. It will administer Australia's national environment laws to better protect the environment and make faster, better decisions. It would be charged with delivering accountable, efficient, outcome focused and transparent environmental regulatory decision-making. EPA would be a truly national environment regulator that Australians can be proud of, responsible for a wide range of activities under Australia's environment laws, including in relation to recycling and waste exports, hazardous waste, wildlife trade, sea dumping, ozone protection, underwater cultural heritage and air quality.

Importantly we're investing in our people, our planning and our systems to speed up development decisions to deliver quicker yeses and, where necessary, quicker noes. This is really important to ensure certainty for developers and investors and to provide certainty for investment decisions. No longer will developers and investors be led along the garden path and given false hope year after year on projects that are never going to get up. While the developers will welcome the fast 'yes' decisions, the fast 'no' decisions are actually just as important.

EPA will also oversee the offset system. The government's offset audits found that one in seven projects using environmental offsets under our environmental laws had either clearly or potentially breached their approval conditions. A separate audit found that one in four had potentially failed to secure enough environmental credits to offset the damage they were doing.

If organisations commit to mitigation or to an offset to make up for an unavoidable impact on nature, the public should be confident that the commitment will be kept. I can't tell you how many constituents have talked to me about the failings of the offset system. The Samuel review into Australia's environment laws found that the regulator is not fulfilling this necessary function. Professor Samuel also found that serious enforcement actions are rarely used and that penalties need to be more than just a cost of doing business. This is unacceptable. It makes a mockery of the whole system and undermines public confidence.

The EPA will be the tough cop on the beat, enforcing our laws through new monitoring, compliance and enforcement powers. Most businesses do the right thing. We know that. But, when penalties for breaking the law are too low and the risk of being caught is negligible, some companies and individuals regard breaking the law as an acceptable cost of doing business. That's why we are increasing penalties. For extremely serious breaches of federal environment law, courts would be able to impose penalties of up to $780 million in some circumstances. The EPA will be able to issue environment protection orders or stop-work orders to address and prevent imminent and significant environmental risks and harm in urgent circumstances. The EPA will also be able to audit businesses to ensure that they are compliant with environmental approval conditions. The EPA will deliver proportionate and effective risk based compliance and enforcement actions using high-quality data and information. It would provide assurance that environmental outcomes are being met.

The minister will retain the power to make decisions where they wish to do so and, in practice, will make decisions based on the advice of the EPA. The EPA will play an important role in the full delivery of the Nature Positive Plan and beyond. The EPA will advise the minister and government of the day on how Australia's environment laws can be improved, and the EPA will work closely with Environment Information Australia as well as state and territory governments to enable better availability and use of environmental data both in planning and decision-making.

These bills also set up the head of Environment Information Australia. This is an independent position with a legislative mandate to provide environmental data and information to the EPA, the minister and the public. It's an independent position to transparently report on trends in the environment. This will support actions and decisions to halt and reverse the decline and, in turn, protect and restore nature.

Environment Information Australia will be working in collaboration with Australia's experts, scientists and First Nations people to collect information and produce consistent tracking of the state of Australia's environment. A nature-positive Australia is good for the economy, livelihoods and wellbeing, but achieving a nature-positive Australia relies on good-quality and useful environmental information. This information will inform investment, policy and regulatory decisions by government, the private sector, community groups, academics, scientists and philanthropic groups.

We know national environment information and data is fragmented, its quality is uncertain and it is not readily accessible and usable. Environment Information Australia will be a consistent and reliable resource for business, enabling better site choices to avoid removing high-value habitat for our unique plants and animals. When project proponents are more easily able to select sites which minimise impacts on nature, projects can be approved more easily and completed more quickly. Importantly, legislating for independent, consistent and authoritative environment reporting will mean that no Australian government can hide the truth about the state of our environment, as we saw under the previous government.

The bill also provides more transparency in the critical information and data that underpins regulatory decision-making. This was a key recommendation of the Samuel review. It delivers on our promise at the last election to provide consistent and reliable information on the state of the environment across the country.

The bill also defines for the first time the term 'nature positive' and introduces a requirement to report on Australia's national progress towards that outcome. This will be the first time that any country has defined 'nature positive' in legislation and put in place national reporting against this objective. In short, nature positive means improving on our ecosystems, including the species that rely on and form part of the ecosystem.

Requiring reports to be prepared and published online every two years, instead of every five years, will allow us to get on the front foot and better apply and track protections where they are most needed.

Australia's environment is a national asset and a responsibility. As a government and as representatives of our local communities across Australia we have a responsibility to our constituents to protect our local environments. After a decade of neglect and active sabotage, this government is working hard to ensure that future generations can enjoy and benefit from the unique Australian environment. I commend the bill.

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