Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

Existing section 24(2) of the sea-dumping act provides that merits review is not available for a ministerial decision to grant a permit if the same activity was subject to an inquiry under part 8 of the EPBC Act. The proposed amendment removes that subsection and would have the practical effect of making the EPBC decision subject to a merits review. That's why it's inconsistent with the present broad approach to merits review under that act. The government's reason for not supporting this is the way it interacts with the EPBC Act. But, as I indicated, we look forward to engaging with senators more generally about the way that merits review might be treated in the revisions that are presently under discussion.