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

Labor have broken their promise to reform our environmental laws. Under the existing laws, hundreds of fossil fuel projects have been approved, millions of hectares of critical habitat have been cleared and record numbers of species have been added to the threatened list—that's patently not environmental protection. Instead, Labor have listened only to their mates and their generous donors in the fossil fuel industry, and delayed these crucial reforms. Environmental protection can wait, but if you're a fossil fuel company, Labor won't hesitate to act on your directives.

Instead of actually practically directly reforming our environmental laws, we get this damp squib, this wet-blanket set of bills that are designed to do nothing more than placate those who've been fighting for decades for better environmental protection. This agency will be a glorified department that will be enforcing the same set of laws that we already know are completely inadequate. This is nothing less than a betrayal of the environment, of threatened species, and of the millions of Australians who voted for climate action and environmental protection.

It's not just the Greens who are critical of this disastrous decision to delay environmental law reform; it's the Australian Conservation Foundation, who said they are 'frustrated and deeply disappointed'. It's also the Wilderness Society, who said the proposed EPA 'lacks the independence and integrity needed to shield development and environmental decision-making from undue influence by vested interests'. What these groups know is that Labor's EPA bill won't save our wildlife, it won't stop native-forest logging, and it won't stop the expansion of climate-wrecking coal and gas mines.

Who does approve of these reforms? There are no prizes for guessing—it's the mining industry and it's the gas industry. The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia called it 'better for business' objectives'.

(Quorum formed) The Minerals Council of Australia love that the new laws contain a ministerial veto, because, of course, that means they can use their influence to get decisions they don't like overturned. In my electorate of Ryan, which is so blessed with large areas of bushland, beautiful creekways and wildlife, there are many active volunteer environmental groups working tirelessly to preserve, nurture and restore our precious natural environments. It's an uphill battle, though, while this government continues to cause the climate change that is cooking our planet and destroying nature, while it wilfully embraces the gas cartels, letting the likes of Santos and Woodside virtually write their environmental policies and while it announces more gas exploration despite the looming climate catastrophe. This is not a transition to net zero as they claim; it's a transition to climate disaster and the devastation of our natural environments and systems. This legislation does absolutely nothing to address that catastrophic outcome.

So happy World Environment Day for yesterday, everybody, but it's hard to celebrate that when we are on track for 2.5 to three degrees of warming. This means that the world as we know it will be unimaginably changed. We'll have more frequent and intense floods and droughts that will cause major environmental damage. This dystopian vision is not hyperbole; this is what our eminent scientists are telling us. Is this government—a government that promised climate action—so ignorant, so uncaring or simply so beholden to their mates in the fossil fuel industry that they're comprehensively selling out the future of our children and grandchildren?

The independent review into the EPBC Act by Professor Graeme Samuel way back in 2020 contained 38 recommendations. The need for reform is urgent. It's very clear that the delay in acting on these recommendations is not about finessing the final legislation but about Labor yet again bowing to the fossil fuel lobby. The Samuel review was also highly critical of the existing act 'not fulfilling its objectives as they relate to the role of Indigenous Australians in protecting and conserving biodiversity, working in partnership with and promoting the respectful use of their knowledge.' Additionally, the review noted 'a culture of tokenism and symbolism', meaning that the views of First Nations people about their own land and their knowledge of their own land are not being incorporated. First Nations people are entitled to expect stronger protections of cultural heritage and the incorporation of their knowledge into management practices.

So here we have a bill that is an environmental protection smokescreen. Again, this is Labor putting up legislation to give the impression of doing something—smoke, mirrors, a vibe. Tragically, though, it does nothing to avert the cascading crises of species extinction, habitat destruction and climate catastrophe exacerbated by Labor's inaction. For these reasons the Greens will oppose this bill in the House. We will reserve our position in the Senate and await the findings of the Senate inquiries into this bill.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the amendment seconded?

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

I second the amendment and reserve my right to speak.

Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the substance of this bill before us, the Nature Positive (Environment Protection Australia) Bill 2024. What a load of rubbish I've had to listen to, about how it's not going to do anything. This is a significant step forward in protecting our environment.

I know everyone in this place thinks that the area they represent is special and unique, but the area that lies within and surrounds the electorate of Macquarie is World Heritage listed, and the Blue Mountains is the only city within a World Heritage area anywhere in the world. Our World Heritage area has eight protected areas: the Blue Mountains, Wollemi, Yengo, Nattai, Kanangra-Boyd, Gardens of Stone and Thirlmere Lakes national parks, and the Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve. It's 1.03 million hectares of eucalyptus dominated landscape, one of the largest and most intact tracts of protected bushland in the country. The diverse plant communities and habitats support more than 400 animal species, of which 40 are threatened. There are 52 mammal species, 63 reptile species, over 30 frog species and about one-third of Australia's bird species. There are vertebrates like the platypus and the echidna, and, although invertebrates are still poorly known, there are around 120 butterfly and 4,000 moth species. The richness of our fauna and flora is almost beyond comprehension. It includes, of course, the Wollemi pine, something from the time of the dinosaurs. Ongoing research continues to reveal the rich scientific value of the area as more species are discovered. This exceptional biodiversity is complemented by equally special Indigenous heritage as well as post-European-settlement cultural values, geodiversity, water production, wilderness, recreation and natural beauty.

I chose to live in this World Heritage area more than 30 years ago, and now three generations of my extended family live in the Blue Mountains, so I care, and my community cares. I would not be backing this bill if I didn't believe that it is a significant step forward, a step in reversing the extinction and destruction of native species and protecting our environment better than it ever has been before. Finally we will have an independent national environment protection agency, which will have much stronger powers than anything the current department has.

Right up front let me say that I know, as I'm saying this, there are good people thinking, 'Yeah, that's great, but we want more.' Well, of course we do. We all want more, and it is Labor's commitment to do more, to build on the traditions of past Labor governments and shift the protections. Our job is as hard as any Labor government's has been, to make sure we have laws that are fit for the 21st century, where our scientific knowledge means we know much better than any Labor government before us how vital it is that we get this right.