Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My community on the Central Coast of New South Wales is against PEP 11. People living up and down the coast, from Sydney to Newcastle, are against PEP 11. And yet Minister Pitt still hasn't made a decision, eight months after his original deadline. This is a project that will devastate our coastline, our local marine life and our local economy. That's why I stand against it.

Last year I met with members of the Surfrider Foundation and Save our Coast on the lawns of Parliament House, calling on this government to stop PEP 11. In February I stood with my Labor colleagues as Anthony Albanese announced Labor's opposition to PEP11. In April, with Liesl Tesch, state member for Gosford, I joined the Surfrider Foundation and Save our Coast paddling out against PEP 11. In August I joined a virtual town hall with advocacy groups to reaffirm my opposition to PEP 11. I'm not the only one—over 1,800 people in my community have signed a petition to stop this. Thousands of others in Newcastle, Sydney and across Australia have done the same. Even Ben & Jerry's have spoken out, making it clear they do not want this project to go ahead. But the minister still hasn't made a decision.

Now we're preparing for another push against PEP 11. A private member's bill to stop PEP 11 has come before parliament today. I'm prepared to support this bill, but I suspect the Morrison government has zero intention of letting it go to a vote. They have already adjourned debate, trying to keep PEP 11 off the agenda. That's why I'm urging the minister to put an end to this uncertainty for my community. He has the power to stop PEP 11 with the stroke of a pen today. Do what's right, Minister. This has dragged on for too long.