Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move Greens amendment (16) on sheet 5629:

Schedule 2, page 306 (after line 1), after item 97, insert:

97A  Subsection 140(1)

Repeal the subsection (not including the heading), substitute:

        (1)    If a person has engaged, is engaging or is proposing to engage in conduct consisting of an act or omission that constituted, constitutes or would constitute a contravention to which this Part applies, an application to a Court for an injunction may be sought by:

             (a)    the appropriate enforcement agency; or

             (b)    an interested person (other than an unincorporated organisation); or

             (c)    a person acting on behalf of an unincorporated organisation that is an interested person.

97B  At the end of section 140

Add:

        (7)    For the purposes of an application for an injunction relating to conduct or proposed conduct, an individual is an interested person if the individual is an Australian citizen or is ordinarily resident in Australia or an external Territory, and:

             (a)    the individual’s interests have been, are or would be affected by the conduct or proposed conduct; or

             (b)    the individual engaged in a series of activities for protection or conservation of, or research into, water resources or dependent ecosystems, at any time in the 2 years immediately before:

                   (i)    the conduct; or

                  (ii)    in the case of proposed conduct—making the application for the injunction.

        (8)    For the purposes of an application for an injunction relating to conduct or proposed conduct, an organisation (whether incorporated or not) is an interested person if it is incorporated (or was otherwise established) in Australia or an external Territory and one or more of the following conditions are met:

             (a)    the organisation’s interests have been, are or would be affected by the conduct or proposed conduct;

             (b)    if the application relates to conduct—at any time during the 2 years immediately before the conduct:

                   (i)    the organisation’s objects or purposes included the protection or conservation of, or research into, water resources or dependent ecosystems; and

                  (ii)    the organisation has been engaged in a series of activities related to the protection or conservation of, or research into, water resources or dependent ecosystems; and

             (c)    if the application relates to proposed conduct—at any time during the 2 years immediately before the making of the application:

                   (i)    the organisation’s objects or purposes included the protection or conservation of, or research into, water resources or dependent ecosystems; and

                  (ii)    the organisation has been engaged in a series of activities related to the protection or conservation of, or research into, water resources or dependent ecosystems.

This amendment relates to the application of injunctions. It is about seeking to incorporate public standing provisions into the act. Again, it is an issue that I very strongly acknowledge we have sought to raise before. This has been an issue for the community, and particularly for environment groups, for quite some time, and we believe that it is an important provision in legislation such as this. Environment organisations have had longstanding arguments for public standing provisions in many areas of legislation and, of course, there are such provisions in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

We have held the position for some time—and this, I must also say, moves into the area of my subsequent amendment, amendment (17)—that it is important that community organisations and the public have the opportunity to take action under specific areas of legislation. It has been a longstanding argument that the Greens have put forward—and this is what amendments (16) and (17) are specifically about—that if, for example, government is not, heaven forbid, doing the right thing or does not take action, there are provisions in the legislation for the community to be able to do that. Other legislation does include public standing provisions for the community to be able to take action, and such provisions have been used very effectively on a number of occasions and have produced positive outcomes for the environment. Environment organisations in particular, as I have said, have been very supportive of this approach for a very long time. We believe it is appropriate in such forward-looking legislation as this that such provisions are included in this act.