Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Housing and Urban Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question without notice is to Senator Ian Campbell, the Minister for the Environment and Heritage. Can the minister confirm that, as part of the humiliating backdown over the Bald Hills wind farm that was forced on him in the Federal Court last Friday, he agreed that taxpayers would pay Wind Power’s legal costs? Isn’t it the case that an agreement to pay costs at such an early stage is nothing more than an unconditional surrender? Can the minister confirm that he was forced to raise the white flag so quickly because of the weakness of his case and the strong likelihood that he would lose? Couldn’t this whole saga have been avoided if in the first instance the minister had considered the wind farm proposal according to law rather than abusing his powers for political purposes?

Ian Campbell (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you to Senator Carr for the question. It is rather amusing to have a member of the Victorian Labor Party accusing me of playing politics on this issue when that is all that his state Labor Party comrades have sought to do over recent weeks. What we do know—it is a fact that is before the courts—is that the proponents of the wind farm, of just over 50 wind turbines down at Gippsland, in fact approached me and said, ‘We would like to get this out of court and we would like the chance to make another submission to you.’ They asked for a number of other conditions, which I did not agree to. I said, ‘If you want me to receive another submission’—

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Ian Campbell (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is very hard, Mr President, to answer questions when Senator Carr’s comrades are yelling and screaming.

Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senators on my left, there is too much noise.

Ian Campbell (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We agreed to receive a new submission. That is what was sought; that is what I agreed to. It will save taxpayers’ money. It will ensure that the proponents get a fair procedure, and that is what all Australians and all Australian companies are entitled to. What we do know is that, if Labor had their way when it comes to the construction of wind farms, for every two turbines that we build around the Gippsland region under our policies, you would have five wind turbines under Labor. That is the Latham Labor policy, and it has not been changed, so we do know that. We know that the people around Gippsland would end up with roughly 2½ times the number of turbines—

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Housing and Urban Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You’re still playing politics.

Ian Campbell (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We could ask Senator Carr when he asks his supplementary question to say whether he supports the decision of the Victorian Labor government to not allow to go ahead a wind farm at a place called Ballan, just north of Bald Hills, on the basis of a report that said that just over two wedge-tailed eagles would be killed, knowing full well that two wedge-tailed eagles would be killed by the Bald Hills wind farm. Will Senator Carr say that he stands by Mr Hulls? Does Senator Carr stand by Mr Hulls, the man who intends to tear down the old High Court building in Melbourne? The hypocrisy of federal Labor and the Victorian Labor Party—

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! There are too many interjections on my left. I ask you to come to order.

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I raise a point of order. I accept that the chamber was getting unruly but it is because Senator Campbell refuses to be relevant. He wants to discuss the Victorian High Court building when he has been asked a question about the court case on the parrot and the fact that he has accepted that the Commonwealth will have to meet the costs of his humiliating backdown. Can you draw his attention to the question?

Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Evans, I hear your point of order. The minister has one minute and 18 seconds to answer the question. I remind him of relevance and I remind him of the question. I also remind senators on my left to allow him to answer the question in some modicum of silence.

Ian Campbell (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Labor Party like to talk about this as a backdown. I reiterate: the proponents to construct the wind turbines came to the Commonwealth and said that they would like to get this out of court, and we said that we thought that was a good idea for the taxpayer. They also asked that we pay their costs. Apparently, according to my legal advisers, that is the entirely normal thing that a government does. That is the advice of my legal advisers. It is probably the same advice that previous Labor governments got. The trouble with Labor on this issue is that they say that you cannot protect threatened species and build renewable energy. This government is seeking to do both. We are pumping billions of dollars into wind farms and hundreds of millions of dollars into solar and other renewables and we are protecting threatened species. We believe in a sophisticated approach to this; Labor just want to play politics.

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Housing and Urban Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister now confirm that, in its new submission, Wind Power will be given an opportunity to respond to the report prepared for the minister by Biosis? Isn’t this an admission that the minister’s April decision, which did not give Wind Power that opportunity, was fundamentally flawed and denied the company natural justice? In perverting the processes under environmental law, hasn’t the minister exposed taxpayers to costly legal action and a potential damages claim?

Ian Campbell (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We can be thankful that Senator Carr is not the shadow Attorney-General. If he spoke to Wind Power or the proponents he would know that they were told of the Biosis report publicly—I told the world about that report. They knew I had received the report and they went to court and said, ‘We want to force you to make the decision. Please make the decision and hurry up and make it.’ So I made the decision. The fact is that Wind Power did not seek a copy of the report and by their very own actions, which will humiliate Senator Carr, made it impossible for them to see the report. Senator Carr should perhaps go and read the facts. The reality is that Labor are totally confused on climate change policy. They are all over the place. The only policy they have is a new carbon tax to slug every Australian extra money for their fuel and power bills.