Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am sure it will not surprise the senator to say that we will disagree here on this point. The government's view is that we have very rigorous environmental laws in this country. We support those laws, and those laws will be maintained. Indeed, under this facility—I will say it again—finance will not be provided unless approvals are given under those laws.

The senator is right: the government has made various proposals to reform our environmental laws—reforms that have been long considered by both sides of politics. Our view is that those reforms will not weaken our environmental protections. They will remain rigorous and some of the strongest in the world, if not the strongest. We can disagree on that point, Senator Waters. That is your prerogative. The point I am making is that I see it as nonsensical to try to impose on projects in northern Australia a set of environmental obligations and laws that are different to those in other parts of the country. That is not the objective of this bill. The objective of this bill is actually to facilitate and encourage investment in infrastructure in northern Australia. These amendments from the Greens would act in counter to the overall objective of this legislation. For that reason, the government will not support them.