Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

With respect, it is a fundamental question. I would expect that the drafters of the bill are fully aware of the existing triggers in our environmental laws, as I am. Water is not one of them, and the whole basis of the bill is only enlivened if there is going to be a significant impact on one of those matters. My question is: is it correct to say that the advice of this committee will have no influence whatsoever over a minister's approval decision unless there is a matter of national environmental significance that is already protected by the act? That is, if there is a coal seam gas development, it will not matter a whit what this committee says because there is no water trigger in our environmental laws.