David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This illustrates how good Labor’s environmental credentials are. The minister failed to read the licence properly and allowed the Midland brickworks to emit hydrogen fluoride to a level five times greater than the licence permitted, because she applied the licence across the five kiln stacks instead of to the whole plant. Since 2004 the people of Midland have been exposed to this absolutely outrageous toxicity from the Midland brickworks because the Labor Party’s environmental minister in Western Australia could not read plain English. And the Labor Party have come in here today and said that Senator Campbell is in error!

In Western Australia, under the EPA—which virtually controls and locks up the whole of Western Australia—it takes 13 to 18 months to issue an EPA licence to a local small Western Australian shire to make road alterations. To clean up the verge of a road, you have to have an EPA licence in Western Australia, and it takes the EPA 13 to 18 months to issue that licence.

Let us have a look at the sorts of credentials the opposition bring to the table here. There is a raging debate throughout Australia with respect to the location of wind farms and turbines. One of the most important things that any federal minister can do is listen to community concerns and look at the environmental impact of those developments. Looking at what has happened in Western Australia, heaven help Australia if there were to be the same level of ineptitude, complete stupidity and gross incompetence replicated by having those on the opposite side of this chamber elected to government. It would be absolutely frightening. It would be a nightmare. Thank heavens for Senator Ian Campbell.