Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks to my esteemed colleague Senator McKim, who is always ever so articulate in the way he puts things—that's why we know he has a particular swag about him. But what an absolute farce that this government is hiding such a large shift—a shift of power—in an offshore-worker safety bill. This government has tried to play it off like it's nothing. They've downplayed it. They're trying to say: 'There's nothing to see here. It's not going to do what you think it is going to do'—those are the words of the resources minister Madeleine King, from the other place. They're stitching up that deal, as Senator McKim just said, without any scrutiny to the detail. They're putting a very significant change in this bill which essentially is such an important issue. I do not see this government engaging in the offshore-worker safety field, and they know how important it is to protect offshore-worker safety. We've had many instances, particularly in my home state of Western Australia, with offshore gas rigs and worker safety. This government, and their friends over the aisle there who they're holding hands with today on this, want to make sure that this bill is about fast-tracking the environmental approvals in schedule 2 part 2 in this bill. They don't want that to be scrutinised in this place, the house of review. They don't want that to be scrutinised at all.

There is absolutely no reason for this, and I'll tell you why there's no reason. I met with Minister King, the Minister for Resources, yesterday as part of our quarterly meetings. I asked her to explain to me why it is so important to ram this through after an FOI revealed a letter from Santos's CEO, Kevin Gallagher, asking the minister to make sure that those approvals that they're having so many issues with are watered down—'issues' like asking First Nations people for permission, for free, prior and informed consent to drill in Commonwealth waters for offshore gas to export for their bottom line. It is not for the Australian public, because we know PRRT is broken. These guys want to hold hands over that. They want to make sure that there is no scrutiny.

Minister King stood in the other place yesterday during question time and said, 'It'll do the same thing your bill will do,' to the Greens member for Brisbane, Stephen Bates. It will not do the same thing our bill will do. Our bill is giving voice to First Nations people. It will make sure that we get free, prior and informed consent. It will make sure First Nations people are included as relevant people. That's the loophole in the legislation for the offshore petroleum regulations and in the act, and Minister King does not want to admit that.

The absolute irony of this is that before the ice age there was First Nations cultural heritage on that land, but it's now under water because those seas rose. And the Minister for Resources, as the only approver, goes out, under NOPTA and offshore leases, on junkets overseas with a begging bowl to Japan and Korea and tells them, 'Please, give Australian money.' It's an embarrassment for offshore regs to be watered down for environmental approvals and also for silencing the voices of First Nations people.

I asked the minister yesterday, 'Were the names Tipakalippa and Cooper included on the consultation review that this government is undertaking, which means they weren't included on the list of the 200 people?' 'We're trying to find a blackfella to sign off on them. We're going to put them on the website and say we're doing consultation.' How about the Closing the Gap target about digital access? How about that, government? We know that First Nations people don't have adequate digital access, but you ram it onto your website and say: 'Let's fast-track this. Let's make sure they aren't able to have their say.' This is a government that said it wanted a voice to parliament. How ridiculous—the hypocrisy of saying that when now they want to silence our voices in this bill.