Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health, Aged Care and Indigenous Health Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the federal coalition I rise today to speak on the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Legislation Amendment (Safety and Other Measures) Bill 2024. In doing so, I'm proud to affirm to the House that on this side of the chamber the coalition continues to be a strong, dependable and ardent supporter of Australia's resources sector. On this side we remain committed to ensuring that this crucial industry, which generates and delivers so much wealth, is able to keep investing in our nation.

It's worth recognising just how important that contribution is. In 2022 and 2023 Australia's gas industry generated approximately $92 billion in export earnings, which provided direct economic support to federal, state and territory budgets. Australian gas also powers energy and manufacturing across our country and provides affordable energy security to our international partners. Therefore, if these sorts of projects continue to be threatened, we jeopardise billions and billions of dollars worth of investment and run the risk of not being able to supply the international market with the vital energy supplies it needs. Further to this, Australia is set to hit a gas supply cliff by 2026, and with continued attacks on the gas sector we run the risk of not being able to encourage, to facilitate and to secure the substantial investment our country requires to avert this crisis. Therefore sensible government policy which supports the resources industry, which incentivises investment and which will help develop greater prosperity of this sector and the whole nation is so desperately needed at this time.

But this is not what we're seeing from this government. The circulation of an amendment attempting to restrict sensible reforms to offshore regulations is an attempt to appease the Greens. These amendments add a new EPBC trigger into the decision-making process, which would completely remove the EPBC exemption for offshore products if the minister for the environment decides they don't like a particular offshore gas regulation. And by adding the sunset clause into these amendments the government has assured that when they inevitably bungle the regulation reform there'll be no chance to fix it. We're going through this entire process right now because of provisions to fix regulations that simply don't exist. Why would the government then move an amendment to remove those exact provisions, which we are voting on right now?

We will be opposing this amendment to this bill. And it is telling that, despite the government having bipartisan support from the coalition for this bill in its original form, when Mr Bandt said 'jump', Labor couldn't help itself from watering down those parts of the bill—important reforms—whilst running scared of the radicals who want to shut the industry down.

Because we want to continue to see a government that puts good policy before politics, especially if it means cooperating with the coalition, this bill has bipartisan support. Labor had no need to crumble to the Greens pressure—yet they did. It begs the question: why do they always slap away the hand of bipartisanship in favour of bowing to the Greens' agenda? This is indicative of the type of government the Prime Minister leads. Labor will go to the media and plead the bipartisanship thing, or attack the coalition for not blindly supporting them in their legislative agenda. But when the opportunity for real bipartisanship presents itself, Labor cannot help themselves. Instead of continuing to work with the coalition, whose support Labor had already secured, they folded to the Greens. Yet again, it's the Greens' tail wagging the Labor dog. When will Labor end the charade and just offer Mr Bandt a position in their cabinet, because he's obviously already there writing their policies. Despite all of the posturing by Labor and all that they do to support the resources sector—

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order. The member for Melbourne has a point of order.

Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker, my point of order is that you should enforce the rule that members should be referred to by their titles.

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's true. Members should be referred to by their titles. So I would ask the member for Braddon to do that, please.

Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health, Aged Care and Indigenous Health Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I take the point, Deputy Speaker. Despite all the posturing that Labor does about supporting the resources sector and understanding the need for gas in our energy mix, they still cannot bring themselves to deliver the proper reform. Instead, as usual, they bow to the Greens and to the radical Labor Environmental Action Network. It's disappointing to see the resources minister's authority being stripped by the environment minister. But it does not come as any surprise to the coalition, because we all know that it is ideology that drives this government, not good policy. To continue to attack this sector, which is still under immense pressure thanks to Labor's policies, is simply layering bad policy on top of more bad policy.

There are elements of this bill that are important, and it is important that we discuss those. It's important to note that the workplace health and safety reforms contained within this bill are based on a review that the coalition conducted during our term of government. In fact, many of the measures are already in place, with the oil and gas industry holding themselves to very high standards when it comes to matters of health and safety in the workplace. Ultimately, Australians who are employed in the resources sector are fortunate enough to operate in one of the best environments in the world. They earn great wages. They operate in safe and secure conditions, and they support those vital projects which provide such tremendous contributions to our domestic energy security and to the energy security of our partners. The coalition remain ardent supporters of those workers in our resources sector. We support the necessary reforms to workplace health and safety measures that ensure all Australians can go to work and can return home safely. That's why we initiated this review.

The bill before the House today also enables the government to deliver urgent reforms for offshore regulations. Although, unfortunately, it must be pointed out that the Albanese Labor government has put Australia's natural gas market under extreme pressure, with heavy-handed interventions and policies that are harming investment, not increasing supply. Over the past 18 months, at every single opportunity, the coalition has repeatedly warned the government of long-term impacts that their policies will have on this vital sector. We have called on the Labor government to cease and desist with their constant interventions and to instead proactively engage with the industry to urgently address the looming natural gas shortfalls. And today we repeat this message loud and clear.

The coalition notes that a significant component of this bill strengthens the potential for the Minister for Resources to genuinely and constructively engage with industry and to ensure that these sorts of projects are able to progress without delay. Despite Labor watering down their own reforms by letting the environment minister empire-build and seize control of the resources minister's decision, it is still vital that urgent reforms to these regulations and processes exist. These are reforms that the coalition have been demanding for more than 18 months.

The coalition will not block this bill. Despite the government trying to undermine the bipartisan work that has occurred within the second amendments. We acknowledge that modelling released late last year confirmed that more natural gas is needed, with the demand for Australian gas rising by up to 30 per cent from current levels by 2050. And so, faced with looming shortfalls on the east coast and Western Australia, it is now critical that new gas developments are supported and brought online. Otherwise, we run the risk of blackout and shortfalls dramatically increasing as time goes on.

In terms of the immense contributions of royalties and taxes from our gas sector and the taxes that they provide to state and federal budgets, in 2022 and 2023 this amounted to a staggering $16 billion. These taxation receipts could fund the construction of around 11 new public hospitals or 160 new schools or cover annual public health care to the tune of 1.67 million Australians.

However, despite all that wealth, despite all the revenue and despite all the investment that the gas industry gives to our nation, we continue to witness the shameful spectacle of the ideological crusaders and extreme activists who are hellbent on waging war against this great sector.

When it comes to legislation such as this, it's absolutely paramount that the government does everything it can, everything in its power, to ensure that proper reforms are made to support the Australian gas industry, for both the continued strength of the sector and the continued protection of workers, their rights and their safety. Every Australian worker should be able to come home safe at the end of a day's work. This bill strengthens health and safety standards for this industry. Our offshore workers play an important role for both our domestic energy supply and supporting our international community.

As I mentioned in my opening remarks, not only does our gas industry power Australian homes and businesses, but it's also crucial to keeping the lights on for our strategic partners—countries like South Korea and Japan, who already rely on Australian gas in order to power their populations—and it is essential that we continue to provide a stable and secure gas supply to these countries.

It's as simple as this: if Australia's offshore oil and gas sector continues to face the combination of sustained and relentless attacks from activists, as well as the damaging and misguided government policies, then all of the supply is put at tremendous risk, which in turn puts many international relationships at risk.

To conclude, while the federal coalition will not block this bill from progressing through the House, it's imperative that the government takes the decisive action to implement real and urgent changes to support the gas industry and sector as well as the broader resource sector throughout the country. Right now, the layering of industrial relations policies, the safeguard mechanism, the ongoing attacks from legal activists and general anti-business environment will have a long-term impact on investment prospects going into the future.

We cannot afford to lose the tremendous prosperity that this sector has brought our nation. So, despite Labor's unnecessary yet unsurprising capitulation to the Greens political party, the coalition will support the passage of the bill because we know the importance of delivering certainty and security for our resources sector.

Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words: "the House:

(1) opposes schedule 2, part 2 regarding approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999; and

(2) condemns the Government for making its first legislative action since the Voice Referendum depriving First Nations people of their voice and legal rights to oppose destructive gas projects on their land and sea country".

The government's first piece of legislation since the Voice that directly affects First Nations people is one that completely strips them of their voice in the fight against Australia's powerful gas cartel. Despite their supposed commitment to the Uluru Statement from the Heart and strengthening environment safeguards, the government is shamefully teaming up with the coalition to push through legislation that allows gas companies to completely disregard the concerns of traditional owners. What a disgrace.

Do you want to know how much corporations like Santos control our government? A few months ago, Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher, with a couple of other gas exec buddies, wrote a letter to the minister requesting a meeting because they want faster approvals for their projects. A few months later, the Labor government is here moving legislation to bypass environmental approvals for gas projects. I wonder what they said at that meeting. It must have been very persuasive—or perhaps it's just the hundreds of thousands of dollars Santos has donated to the Labor Party over the last few years. Here we are in a truly perverse situation where the Labor government is siding with the LNP to take powers that protect the environment away from the environment minister and hand them to the resources minister—a resources minister who is notorious for her full throated support of that gas industry.

Will everyday people see the wealth from these new mines? No. Santos hardly pays a cent in tax. All this money will go to wealthy shareholders. CEO, Kevin Gallagher, sits on an astronomical $8.7 million salary. Imagine if Labor listened to families struggling with the cost of living the way they listen to gas corporations. Imagine that. We'd have free school breakfasts and lunches for all kids; we'd have genuinely free GP visits and dental in Medicare; we'd have free uni and TAFE. But, evidently, unless you have billions of dollars in your back pocket that you can hand over come election time, the government doesn't want to listen to you.

Labor promised at the last election to strengthen environmental laws. Now they're siding with the coalition to hand over power to the pro-gas resources minister. What a sick joke. We're in the middle of a climate crisis, a cost-of-living crisis and a housing crisis, and the Labor government is spending its time doing everything it can to prop up the profits of gas corporations, not lifting a finger for everyday people. At a time when everyday people are absolutely struggling with housing and cost-of-living crises, the government should be collecting more revenue from big corporations and putting that into things like building quality public homes, making seeing a doctor actually free and, yes, wiping HECS debt. Sadly, we're heading in exactly the opposite direction.

Independent think tank the Australia Institute has shown that, while gas corporations in Australia made $164 billion in total revenue in 2023, they only paid $16 billion, or just 9.8 per cent, in taxes and royalties to federal and state governments. By contrast, in Norway the government's share of gas and petroleum revenue was 55 per cent. Part of the problem is that corporations in Australia are incredibly adept at artificially inflating their expenses to dodge tax. They do this in a number of ways. Often, they borrow money at high interest rates from related corporations in tax havens so repayment costs appear much higher. Likewise, they pay exorbitant fees to related corporations in tax havens for things like marketing services or access to intellectual property. Norway, with much better taxation laws, does not have this problem.

The other problem is that Queensland's royalty rate for gas is abysmally low, rarely reaching even 10 per cent. Even Texas has a 25 per cent royalty rate for oil and gas. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis showed that in 2021-22, as the gas price spiked, the revenue of Queensland gas projects surged to $22 billion but the state only took $1.2 billion in royalties, or less than 5.5 per cent—shame.

State and federal governments can fix this. They can fix tax loopholes, raise federal taxes on gas companies and raise royalty rates. They don't because Labor and the LNP are beholden to gas corporations via political donations, lobbyists and that revolving door between politics and corporations. Resources like gas belong collectively to all of us, to all Australians. Companies pay a royalty for the right to extract and sell them, but the resources do not belong to the corporations. They belong to all of us. Asking that they pay their fair share is only reasonable.

In an orderly transition away from coal and gas, we should tax the gas corporations properly to fund the future renewable energy infrastructure that we need, while helping fund the things that all Australians need to live a good, healthy and thriving life here. Any time a politician from the Labor Party or the Liberal Party says, 'We need more gas. It's a transition fuel,' watch closely. Watch to see the hand of the gas industry ventriloquist behind them, because that's the line they're running—that's the gas industry's spin—and it's complete and utter nonsense.

We don't need to open a new gas field. We don't need a new gas project—not a single one. Of Australia's current gas production, 84 per cent is used for export. That's only 16 per cent that we use for domestic use—households and industry. Australia is already producing a truly staggering amount of gas—far, far, far more than we need—but the gas corporations don't care one bit about whether Australian households have cheap and reliable energy. They don't care about ensuring our industry has the energy it needs. They care about making maximum profit, and that means more gigantic gas projects to export the maximum amount of gas overseas at the maximum price. It's not helping us. That's billions upon billions of dollars going to wealthy shareholders, so when the Minister for Resources—to whom Labor seem to want to hand control of all gas approvals—says we need gas as a transition fuel, look closely at whose talking points she's running. Look closely at whose interests she's actually serving, because they're not yours, they're not the Australian peoples', they're not those of everyday people around the world—they're the interests of the gas corporations.

The thing is, if you approve a gas well now, you approve it for a corporation who expects to generate profit who expects to generate profit out of exploiting it for the next 30 or more years. That's their model. That's 30 years of massively increased emissions—those 30 years being precisely the time period in which we have to reduce our emissions to zero. Labor talks about wanting net zero emissions by 2050. That target isn't even good enough; that should happen by 2035. But okay: even if we accept 2050 as a reasonable target for net zero emissions, how on earth do they think that's going to be achieved if we're approving massive new hugely polluting gas projects in 2024 which will be operational in the 2050s?

The thing about gas is the more we know about it, the more truly harmful and unsustainable we realise it is. The more research is done into the fugitive emissions from extraction and processing, the more terrified anyone paying attention becomes. The terrifying fact is, corporations and governments have been under-reporting gas emissions for decades now. The International Energy Agency estimates that methane emissions from the oil and gas sector are 92 per cent higher than previously estimated—that's almost double what we actually thought or were being told was going on. I'll tell you why that's so terrifying. When burned, gas is less polluting than coal, sure. But when leaked as methane before burning it—from a coal seam gas fracking well, for instance—it is 82 times more potent than CO2 over a 20-year period. That means gas is cooking our planet in exactly the period that we need to be reducing these emissions and reducing this spiralling warming.

Thirty per cent of today's warming is caused by methane. That's not some distant problem. That's not some abstraction. We have been hovering dangerously, frighteningly close to a 1.5-degree increase in global temperatures for the last year or so. In fact, we've already gone over this, by some reports. All the records are being broken far more quickly than mainstream science had predicted. This means more frequent, more devastating floods, fires and droughts. It means skyrocketing food prices as production starts to falter. It means major shortages as a regular occurrence. This is what gas is actually doing.

Labor know this. They do. I'm sure there are Labor Party politicians who are very concerned about that. But, of course, we can't just stop all gas production and consumption in Australia overnight. Of course, we need some gas in our energy mix for the next decade or so in this century, but we already have far, far more than we will need to power this transition. Let me repeat that: we don't need a single extra gas well drilled, we don't need a single extra gas project approved, and we can't afford it. We can't afford the increasing devastation that comes from a warming world. My grandkids and others' grandkids will suffer as a result of this truly heinous support for the gas cartels. That's why I'm here. That's why I'm actually hear in this place. That's why Australians are crying out for greater climate action from this government.

Let's not hear that nonsense about the need for gas to export to other countries, that it's a wealth and jobs generator for Australia. Gas employs so few people in this country. Meanwhile, gas brings home to the Australian government so little revenue that we could see the gas industry phased out and hardly affect the balance sheet of the government's ability to pay for public services. And, in terms of exports—really? Are we seriously saying that our best exports are coal and gas? Are we seriously saying that? Is that the best we can do?

Firstly, countries around the world are shifting to renewable energy sources, and us flooding the market and keeping gas prices lower slows that process. Secondly, Australia used to be a nation that had aspirations to export things to the world that are useful, things that we could be proud of. We used to fund CSIRO to ensure that we could have high-tech industries and export valuable commodities and research to the world. But that seemed to end a few decades ago, and now we prefer to be an extractive economy, like so many Latin American countries that have been forced to be by their local oligarchs and by US led globalisation. Is this really what we've become in Australia? How can we possibly be proud of our country if this is our primary export—ripping up natural resources, shipping them overseas—not for us, but for the profits of gas cartels?

The window to becoming a high-tech renewables and green energy industry powerhouse—replacing our resources exports with things that actually help the world—is closing. Any further steps towards propping up this parasitic, destructive industry will only see that window close further and continue to entrench our reliance on gas and entrench the political stranglehold.

So, Labor, cut off your puppeteers' strings. Don't let the gas corporations be your ventriloquists. Don't design bills around what Santos wants you to do. Instead of shifting approvals for gas projects into the hands of the resources minister, it is time to substantially strengthen the environmental approvals required for new projects so that we can ensure no new gas projects go ahead, so that we have a shot at reining in the crisis of global heating, so that we have a shot at protecting and preserving this beautiful planet for our kids and grandkids.

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the amendment seconded?

Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the amendment. And, without commencing my speech on the amendment to the second reading, I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the question for the second reading of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Legislation Amendment (Safety and Other Measures) Bill 2024 being put to the House for decision only when the Government's promised environmental reform package has passed both houses.

Not one Labor member has the guts to come in here and speak to this bill. Not one. Not the member for Macnamara, not the member for Wills, not the member for Cooper, not the member for Sydney, not the member for Richmond—none of them are prepared to come in here and even speak to this bill. Labor and Liberal are trying to rush a bill through right now to fast-track gas projects and take away First Nations voices.

The debate on this bill must be adjourned until after we hear what the government intends to do around its environment reforms. If we don't do it that way, if we rush this dirty deal with the Leader of the Opposition and the climate deniers in the Liberal Party and Labor Party, if they rush this legislation through today, then it will take away the rights of First Nations people to be consulted on projects as they currently enjoy it, if the resources minister so decides. It will render completely pointless huge swathes of the election promise that Labor gave to us about strengthening environmental reforms, because what the bill will do is carve out big chunks of our environment laws and approvals and give it over to the gas-loving resources minister, who, under the primary section of this bill, will be able to say, 'Even the rules put in place by John Howard back in 2014 don't need to be followed anymore'.

It is a dirty deal between Labor and Liberal done at the behest of the big gas corporations, and they are trying to sneak it through in the week before Easter with no debate, when not even one member of their backbench has the guts to come in and explain. Why? Because they know they will be standing up to explain that, in their first legislative act affecting First Nations people since the referendum, they are taking away First Nations voices, if the resources minister so determines.

We know that that is the exact purpose of this bill that Labor is trying to rush through, which is why standing orders have to be suspended. We have seen courageous First Nations owners in the Tiwi Islands and in the north-west of Western Australia take the big gas corporations to court and say, 'Even under our weak environment laws, you have to consult us.' As a result of that, and the full Federal Court finding that those consultation provisions are workable, Santos, the big gas corporation, wrote a letter to the resources minister and said, 'Oh, we can't have this. These rights that First Nations owners have to consultation are slowing down our projects. You've got to change it.' Santos said, 'Jump', and Labor said, 'How high?' They've come up with a bill that has no guidance for us about what the new consultation regime will look like. It's not like they've come up with a replacement. They've come up with a bill at a time when they've said: 'We know we're doing broader consultations about what our environment laws should look like, and that might affect this, but we don't want to wait till those are finished. While all these other discussions are taking place, we want you now to fast-track a bill that gives the resources minister a blank cheque to not even have to comply with the John Howard era requirements anymore. Please pass that, and then we'll get back to the business of pretending that we care about climate and of pretending that we care about First Nations owners.'

This bill must be delayed at a minimum until we see what the government is intending to do to so-called strengthen our environment laws—although you've got to think that promise is under a cloud right now. It has to be delayed. If it's as important as the government say it is, then they should come and tell us what the new regime is going to look like and what the new consultation provisions are going to look like. The one thing we know for sure is that it's not just Santos who are backing it; the Liberal Party are backing it. We just heard the shadow minister get up and say the Liberals have been calling for this legislation. They want this legislation, and they said they're not going to stand in the way of it either. So here, on the eve of Easter, we have a dirty deal between Labor and the Liberals to fast-track new gas projects and take away First Nations voices and to give the resources minister huge powers to say that gas corporations don't even have to comply with the minimum standards that were set down by John Howard.

It is absolutely critical that this bill not be rushed through and be subject to the fullest possible scrutiny. Do you know what happened when this bill came to parliament? Labor and the Liberals got together to have a half-day inquiry that happened over the break when most of them were there remotely—maybe for good reasons, I don't know, but they scheduled it at a time when they couldn't make it. So we have had next to no scrutiny of this.

To this legislation: the Prime Minister has said that he wants to hear what First Nations voices say. The question is: does that come with an asterisk attached to it as well that says, 'We'll only listen to First Nations voices if they agree with us'? Maybe there are some Labor backbenchers who don't know about this—maybe they've had the wool pulled over their eyes by the resources minister—but this bill will say that the resources minister can, of their own volition, absolutely rewrite all this substantial consultation and other environmental protections that exist with respect to offshore gas projects that exist in the 2014 plan. Many of those, I would say, should be much stronger. They do not give First Nations owners the rights they are entitled to. But they are there. They were put in place by John Howard. Labor now wants to weaken the John Howard consultation provisions because apparently they're too strong. Labor is now more pro gas than Scott Morrison. Labor is now a bigger booster of the gas industry than Scott Morrison. Not even Scott Morrison tried to take away First Nations owners' rights to be consulted over projects. Not even Scott Morrison moved to amend the environment protection laws by carving out offshore gas projects from them. This is an astounding bill.

The reason this suspension must be supported is that Labor has said: 'Trust us. Look, it's okay. Yes, we've got an amendment here that's going to give huge unfettered power to the resources minister'—in exactly the way the Liberal Party wants; they've just admitted it. This is what the Liberal Party wants. That was their whole speech. Labor's now saying, 'We want to give the resources minister full power', at the same time as the environment minister and the government are out saying, 'We're going to burnish our environment credentials by rewriting the EPBC Act,' including around these very matters.

Up until now, everyone had been led to believe that the government was consulting in good faith about reforms to its environment laws that would include the question about how these big new projects get approved. Now, because the government has taken the time they want to take on that and it hasn't been completed yet—and we haven't seen what new protections, if any, are likely to come—rather than let that process finish and come back to us with a full package about what new environment laws and consultation provisions might look like, they've said, 'In the meantime, no, what we want to do is slip this bill through, with no speakers from the Labor backbench having the guts to come up and even speak to it'—and the Liberals offering the only speaker in support of it to say, 'This is great; it's exactly the legislation that we wanted'. Labor are saying, 'Pass this through quickly, please; please, parliament, don't notice it, don't scrutinise it, so that we can rewrite those consultation provisions and take away people's rights and hopefully no-one will notice.'

Well, the Greens have noticed. The crossbenchers have noticed. First Nations organisations have noticed. The environment groups have noticed. The climate groups have noticed that Labor are climate con artists, trying to rush through a bill in the week before Easter to remove First Nations rights while working with the climate deniers in the coalition to fast-track gas projects. Well, we are here to call you out. If you don't even have the guts to speak to this bill, at the very least defer it until you've done your consultations.

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Melbourne. The member for Melbourne should refrain from using insulting language in describing other members of parliament. Thank you. Is the motion seconded?

Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion. In my electorate of Ryan, every time we have heavy rains I have constituents contacting my office worried that they may again face what happened in the 2022 floods: houses and livelihoods destroyed. Many families are still grappling with the aftermath of that, struggling to rebuild, some of them dealing with dodgy insurance companies. The 2022 floods were said to be unprecedented—like the 2011 floods and like many of the floods we've seen right across Australia. But we know the stark reality is that with climate change these natural disasters will only get worse and, unfortunately, more and more frequent.

Yet what does our government do in the face of this crisis? It shamelessly attempts to ram legislation through, handing the resources minister unprecedented—and this really is unprecedented—authority to fast-track new coal and gas projects, completely undermining the environment minister. It's pretty amazing stuff, really. The government is essentially passing legislation written by the gas industry for the gas industry. The government gets a letter from a few gas company executives and a few months later they offer up a bit of legislation that removes all the headaches of environmental approvals processes. Evidently that's what big political donations get you these days—pay to destroy.

The Labor government and the environment minister have failed to deliver on their promises to overhaul our broken environmental laws, make them stronger and truly protect our environment. But it's pretty clear that the government is actually siding with the gas cartels, making it easier for them to continue destroying our precious environment. The fact that the resources minister can make changes to regulation and not have to consider the environmental laws is absolutely reckless in an age when we know the urgency of the climate crisis. That's why this bill must be delayed until after the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act reforms come into effect. These significant environmental reforms are meant to protect our environment from greenwashed habitat destruction and dangerous fracking. Prior to this, and unbelievably, the minister was not required to assess fracking projects for their impact on the environment. The Greens and environment and First Nations groups have been campaigning for a decade to expand the environmental laws to include a water trigger, which effectively closed the loophole that gives gas fracking corporations a licence to drill without any federal environmental water assessment.

On the back of this, the government is effectively trying to legislate another loophole back in for gas companies to get the green light on environment-destroying projects. Basically, the government is allowing companies like Santos and Woodside to get around complying with the current requirements of environmental laws for gas projects. Yes, you heard that correctly: gas companies will essentially be exempt from complying with certain environmental regulations under even the new amendments. The independent regulator, NOPSEMA, has an endorsed program for the requirements of any gas project, and the government is giving gas companies more powers to bypass this process or rush it through altogether. Just at the moment, Santos has six approvals through NOPSEMA for the Barossa, and they could all be exempt from any environmental approvals process in the next 12 months. This is the project that would emit 401 million tonnes of CO2 pollution in its lifetime. That's the equivalent of 80 per cent of Australia's total emissions in 2020.

We've just gone through multiple flooding events and sweltered through a summer with outrageous humidity, heatwaves and fires, and we know this will only get worse as the planet gets warmer. We're in a climate crisis. Australia cannot afford to pay the price of any new coal and gas projects. The government must not give fossil fuel companies any more power than they already have. This bill must be considered after the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act reforms have come into place.

Max Chandler-Mather (Griffith, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We're running out of time. We're running out of time to stop runaway climate change. What this government should be doing is bringing bills to parliament to fast-track the phase-out of coal and gas, and, at the very least, ban new coal and gas. Instead, what this parliament is debating is a bill that will effectively make it easier for large gas projects to be approved in Australia and that will override the opposition, in particular, of First Nations groups, who have put up a remarkable fight against really large gas projects in this country.

This is genuinely remarkable. It's remarkable when the science is telling us that, right now, we are on the brink of global catastrophe. Over the last few years, Australia has already been smashed by record awful, destructive bushfires that have tragically taken lives, devastating floods, devastating heatwaves, and droughts in some parts of the country at the same time. What this government should be doing is looking at how to stop any new massive gas projects. We know Santos has written to the Minister for Resources asking for changes along these lines, changes that will make it easier for gas corporations to bypass existing, already very weak environmental laws. Now, just as we're debating sea surface temperatures around the world reaching record heights, and just as we're on the brink of a climate catastrophe, where people have already lost lives, we stand here trying the best we can to delay a bill that will allow projects like Santos's Barossa project, a giant gas carbon bomb. Just as we're trying to stop that, this is a bill that will make it easier for it that be approved.

One of the things this government likes to attempt to do is to pretend that Australia doesn't have much of a role to play in stopping climate change—'We're just a small part player'—except for the fact that Australia is the third-largest exporter of fossil fuels in the world. There are two countries ahead of us, Saudi Arabia and Russia—not exactly auspicious company, is it?

The role Australia could be playing in combating dangerous, destructive, deadly global heating could be world leading. We could be sending a signal to the world and saying that we will not open a single new gas or coal project. We could be sending a signal to the world saying that we will tax existing coal and gas projects and raise money that could be spent on phasing out coal and gas in this country, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and lifting people out of poverty. Instead, we're in parliament, and the government is trying to rush through a bill that will make it more likely and easier for Santos to get giant carbon-bomb gas projects approved.

Future generations are going to look back at moments like this and ask: 'What was this parliament doing? What was this parliament doing when billions of climate refugees are on the move, when global food systems are collapsing, when entire ocean ecosystems are dying, and when large areas in places like my home state of Queensland are considered uninhabitable because of the heat and humidity in the summer in 20, 30, 40, 50 years time?' They're going to look back at moments like this and ask, 'Why was a Labor government attempting to pass a bill that makes it easier for gas projects to continue to destroy our climate?'

These gas corporations, by the way, wield enormous political power over our political system. Santos, we know, has been a large and generous donor to the Labor Party both at a federal level and at a state level. Gas corporations like this have gotten their way. I mean, we're in a housing crisis, right? We could be debating an urgent bill to tackle the housing crisis. Instead, we're debating an urgent bill to give gas corporations more power. These gas corporations, by the way, are some of the most profitable in the world and barely pay any tax because of a tax regime and a new gas tax that was written with gas executives in the room. We are a country that is now run by gas corporations. They get whatever they want, regardless of the human consequences or the costs to the environment, to our climate or to people's lives.

This government should be ashamed that it's fallen to the Greens to fight a rearguard action to try and stop a bill that will ride roughshod over First Nations voices in the same term of government that they claimed to care and try to get the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice passed. On the one hand they want to give First Nations people a voice, but on the other they want to silence First Nations people when it comes to standing up to massive gas corporations.

If the government claims that this won't do what the Greens are claiming then let it go through a committee process. Let the experts come in. Let's actually properly scrutinise this, not try and rush it through on a day when we're already experiencing a massive climate catastrophe. It should be alarming to members of the public that stuff like this can happen without proper scrutiny, without proper debate. The government aren't even willing to stand up and defend their own bill. They're trying to claim: 'There's nothing to see here. Nothing's changing. Don't worry. We're not really doing anything.' If that's the case, why move the bill at all? That's the thing, right? On the one hand you're claiming, no, this won't change anything. Well, if that's the case, don't change anything. The reality is that what this does, at the behest of gas corporations like Santos, is give them more power to bulldoze over the top of First Nations communities and those Australians who are trying their very best to stop the madness of the major parties, who, in the middle of a climate catastrophe being caused by coal and gas, are trying to open up more coal and gas projects.

Future generations will remember this. They'll look back at moments like this and they'll think, 'What were you doing?' This government should be ashamed that it has fallen to the Greens to try and stop this madness.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Max Chandler-Mather (Griffith, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's 2024, and once again we are facing the prospect of this government passing legislation—the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Legislation Amendment (Safety and Other Measures) Bill 2024—essentially written by the gas industry for the gas industry. Proposed changes introduced by this Labor government regarding how the oil and gas industry is regulated look to sideline the environment minister and strip them of their powers to oversee the offshore petroleum industry. The fact the gas industry is happy about this says everything you need to know.

It shouldn't come as a shock either, especially after it came to light, through a freedom of information request, that the CEO of Santos wrote to Minister King essentially demanding exactly these changes. The environment minister has said over and over again that she will fix Australia's broken environmental laws, and yet here we are. The resource minister wants to quietly give herself the power to bypass any changes from these laws with loopholes in order to approve new mega gas projects. The potential for one minister to be able to make changes in regulation but not have to review standards under environmental laws is abysmal policy. Make no mistake: this is a Labor favour for the gas lobby, and it comes at the cost of our environment—and not only our environment. It comes at the cost of our First Nations voices as well.

Climate change is here, and our wildlife, forests and ecosystems are already at breaking point. We cannot afford weaker environmental laws. Labor promised at the election to strengthen environmental laws, but now they're working with the climate deniers in the Liberals to carve out big gas projects from environmental and cultural heritage laws and hand over control to the pro-gas resource minister. Labor is breaking an election promise by working with the Liberals to fast-track new climate-destroying gas projects that take away the voices of First Nations traditional owners. This is on the back of the referendum and two historic cases regarding consultation with First Nations people for offshore projects. The first legislative action that the government has chosen to make this year is to turn around and silence First Nations voices. First Nations people have bravely been standing up for their right to be heard and consulted with. They have taken these giant gas corporations to court, and they have won. Now the government wants to change the rules in favour of the gas companies. It is well beyond time for truth and treaty in this country, yet we have seen this government vacate this space almost completely. This is the same government that said on election night that it was committed to the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full and that has committed to strengthening our environmental laws.

The amendment proposed to the OPGGS Act threatens to sideline the environment minister and bypass environmental approvals and First Nations consultation required by the EPBC Act for new oil and gas approvals. This amendment trashes our environmental laws and makes a mockery of consultation with the explicit aim of fast-tracking climate-wrecking coal, oil and gas projects.

The first legislative act of this government is teaming up with Dutton and the coalition to fast-track gas and stitch up a deal on the PRRT. Hiding a change that will give the Minister for Resources such wide-reaching powers in a bill for workers' safety is a cop-out and in bad faith. The government is trying to rush this bill through, avoid scrutiny and make it seem like this is not a complete power grab. The government hid section 2(2) from the crossbench and did not tell the Greens about it at all, which says all you need to know about what they think it's going to do.

This government is doing the bidding of the fossil fuel industry. We have known that for years. But this makes crystal clear not only how wide-reaching the gas cartel is but also the reach it has into our governments. It seems that when Santos says, 'Jump,' the government now asks, 'How high?' This change will lead to more gas and less consultation. We are in a climate crisis and the science is clear: we cannot have any new fossil fuel projects. The change pre-empts both the Nature Positive reforms that we have been promised and the findings and ongoing review into the offshore consultation process.

The proposed Barossa Gas Project is owned by none other than Santos, the very same company who has asked for these changes. Santos first proposed to build the Barossa offshore gas project north of Darwin and the Tiwi Islands in 2018 and has faced fierce opposition ever since. The Barossa Gas Project is one of the biggest new coal and gas project proposals in Australia. The Barossa Gas Project would emit 401 million tonnes of carbon dioxide pollution over its lifetime. That's the equivalent of 80 per cent of Australia's total emissions in 2020 alone.

There is something most people in Australia are absolutely aware of: that politicians in the old political parties—in particular, Labor and the Liberals—have been completely captured by the interests of massive multinational corporations, in particular the gas corporations. This is called state capture. It is where private actors, corporations like Santos, through their control over resources and through their influence, shape policies and their implementation in the service of their own financial interests. Santos is one of the most striking examples of this in Australia. It has been the biggest winner since COVID. At every level of government, Santos spends so much money on lobbyists to get access to politicians and to government officials, in particular the resources minister. Former Labor resources minister Martin Ferguson's chief of staff is the company's head of government and public affairs. Let that sink in for a minute. In the 2022 financial year, the fossil fuel industry gave Labor and the Liberals around a million dollars each. Why would they do that if not to advance their interests?

This is what we know and have seen time and again from both Labor and Liberal governments—that bills have been moved in this place to give gas, oil and coal corporations more power to ram through not only projects that are destroying our environment but also projects that often they don't pay much tax on. We've also seen PRRT changes that are so weak that we'll see students pay more back to the government on their HECS debt than oil and gas corporations will pay on the PRRT tax bill.

I've said before and I'll say again that the government claims that this won't really change much around approvals. If that were the case, why move it at all? If it doesn't change much or doesn't change anything at all and it's just business as usual, then why move these changes at all? We know that First Nations groups, environmental groups, experts and legal experts have all pointed out that this will make it easier for projects like the Barossa project to be approved, even where First Nations and traditional owners oppose it. The reason it's coming here, really, is that those First Nations groups stood up and won previously. Rather than the government celebrating the voices of First Nations people finally being heard, they turn around and bring a bill to this place that will silence those voices.

Now, this government claims to care about the Uluru Statement from the Heart and claims to care about passing a First Nations Voice. Well, how is it that, in the same term of government, we're debating a bill that will reduce the power of First Nations voices? We know that Australia is the third largest exporter of fossil fuels in the world. We know that we have a global role to play when it comes to tackling climate change, and we should be in this place debating a bill that bans the opening of new coal, oil and gas. Instead, we're debating a bill that may well help fast-track the Barossa Santos gas project—Santos, lest we forget, is one of the largest—

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 43. The debate may be resumed at a later hour.