Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Hansard source

That there are political considerations around electorates. I just fundamentally reject this. In August 2011 the Australian government initiated the national agenda for reform of environmental regulation through COAG. At the time, Minister Burke announced the government's response to the independent review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act—or EPBC, as it is more commonly known—and this included working collaboratively with the states and territories. This is exactly what I said previously.

The Australian government position was that agreements should simplify the regulatory environment, make regulation more efficient and ensure that existing protections for matters of national environmental significance were not compromised. While discussions with all jurisdictions were constructive, significant challenges emerged in developing agreements that could offer certainty and consistency for business while providing the assurance that high environmental standards would be met and maintained. (Time expired)