Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank all members in this place who have spoken on these three bills, including the Nature Positive (Environment Protection Australia) Bill 2024. Australians care about and want to protect our environment. Our economy, our livelihood, our wellbeing and the wellbeing of future generations all depend on the health of our natural world. Australians want a country where nature is being repaired, where it's regenerating and where we have stopped the decline and begun to turn around the damage of the past. Australians want a nature positive Australia. That's what the community expects, and that's what we are delivering through the reforms outlined in our Nature Positive Plan.

With these bills—the second stage of the nature positive reforms—we're moving quickly to establish the institutions that will be crucial to creating a nature positive Australia. Our bills would establish Environment Protection Australia, our EPA, and define statutory functions for the head of Environment Information Australia. We are creating Australia's first national, independent environment protection agency with strong new powers and penalties to better protect nature. EPA will deliver proportionate and effective risk based compliance and enforcement actions using high-quality data and information. It will provide assurance that environmental outcomes are being met. Promoting public trust in environmental decision-making through the publication of information and the transparency of decisions will be core to EPA's business.

The head of Environment Information Australia will be an independent position with a legislative mandate to transparently report on trends in the environment and on the state of the environment report every two years. The head of Environment Information Australia will work in collaboration with Australia's experts, scientists and First Nations people to collect more high-quality information and make that information easier to access. This will support actions and decisions to halt and reverse the decline of and in turn protect and restore nature.

The Nature Positive (Environment Information Australia) Bill would also make Australia the first country in the world to define the term 'nature positive' in legislation and introduce a requirement to report on national progress towards that outcome. This would be measured from a national baseline that the head of Environment Information Australia will independently set together with relevant experts. This will create accountability for our collective national efforts to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, as we've committed to under the Convention on Biological Diversity's global biodiversity framework.

This stage of the reform, together with significant additional government investment, will deliver stronger environmental powers, faster environmental approvals, more environmental information and greater transparency. We will keep working with individuals and groups on the remainder of our reforms outlined in the Nature Positive Plan so that we can get them into the parliament and passed. The third stage of nature positive reforms will continue our broader efforts to halt and reverse environmental decline, protect nature and create a nature positive Australia.

The choices before the parliament today are very clear: Do you want an independent Environment Protection Agency or not? Do you want better data to inform environmental decisions or not? Do you want tougher penalties for those breaking environmental laws or not? Do you want Australia to be the first jurisdiction in the world to enshrine a definition of 'nature positive' in legislation or not?

I note that we are shortly to move to the consideration in detail stage of this legislative package. I know that a number of members on the crossbench will be moving amendments. It isn't our proposal to accept those amendments today and I will speak in the consideration in detail stage about the specific reasons for that. I also look forward to the inquiry that the Senate Environment and Communications committee will undertake on this legislation. I will certainly consider the recommendations of that committee and continue to engage with the crossbench as these bills continue their way through the parliament.

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

The question is that the amendment moved by Ms Watson-Brown to the amendment proposed by Mr Ted O'Brien be agreed to

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

The question is that the amendment moved by the honourable member for Fairfax be agreed to.

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

The question is that the bill be now read a second time.