Ian Campbell (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment and Heritage) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Bartlett for that intervention. The reason I answered Senator Milne’s question previously with another question is that it goes to the nub of answering Senator Bartlett’s question of why a trigger is put into the legislation to require an assessment of effectively every coalmine and every other industrial facility across Australia if making that assessment then leads to the obvious decision that I am required to make virtually every day as the Minister for the Environment and Heritage: whether or not I approve the project. You make an assessment as part of the environmental approvals process. Senator Milne has been honest enough—although in a very longwinded way—to say that, if she were in the position of the minister for the environment, with this power, she would say no to the Anvil Hill coalmine. She said that, morally and ethically, she would have to say no to it. That is an honest answer.

Labor wants to put this provision in the law. Mr Albanese, and I presume Mr Beazley or Mr Rudd, if he is successful next week, would want to put this into the law. Either Mr Beazley or Mr Rudd, whoever leads the Labor Party next week—and I do not seek to make cheap politics of that; it is never—