Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to table an explanatory memorandum relating to the bill.

Leave granted.

I table an explanatory memorandum and seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard and for related purposes.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

I rise today in favour of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Expanding the Water Trigger) Bill 2023, the Australian Greens' Bill which will expand the water trigger in our environment laws to ensure all proposed unconventional gas projects are assessed for their impacts on critical water resources.

Water is life. Our rivers and waterways are critical to the survival of ecosystems, culture and communities. And yet, a loophole in our environment laws means fracking corporations have a license to drill without regard for our rivers or the voices of Traditional Owners. Currently, the Minister for Environment is only required to assess proposed coal seam gas projects for their water impact, while hydraulic fracturing projects remain exempt from this requirement despite their significant water impact. This Bill seeks to fix this failure of our environment laws and provide stronger protections for Australia's rivers, aquifers and wetlands and the communities that rely on them.

This reform is urgent. In the Northern Territory, fracking companies are on the precipice of large-scale gas extraction. With fracking projects in the Beetaloo Basin expected to receive first gas production approvals imminently, it is critical that the Commonwealth Government have oversight and a trigger to consider protections for water by the end of this year.

The Albanese Government has already made their commitment to an expanded water trigger clear in their Nature Positive Plan. However, if stalled beyond this year, this promise will be too little too late, especially with the NT Government poised to give billions of litres to fracking companies in the Beetaloo Basin for free. Their proposed water allocation plan for the region entirely overlooks impacts on and protections for environment and culture, putting communities and ecosystems in the region at risk. Many water experts have spoken out against this unsustainable and dangerous allocation of water.

An expanded water trigger in our Federal environment laws will provide an urgently needed layer of protection for NT water, by ensuring rigorous assessment of potential impacts to waterways.

Fracking uses enormous volumes of water and puts ground and surface water at risk of contamination. Without impact assessment, water resources may be limitlessly exploited and irreversibly damaged for projects that do nothing but put our climate at further risk. For every gas well, fracking companies would require millions of litres of groundwater, which the NT Government is willing to give them for free. The risk of damage to our waterways and climate would be irreversible.

Contamination of water as a result of fracking is also a critical concern for communities in the region. Even in the exploration phase, we have already seen the negligence of fracking corporates who have little regard for the free water they've been handed. Tamboran Resources barely received a slap on the wrist for spraying contaminated water all over their site. Communities and workers alike have expressed concerns for how this action could have poisoned waterways, ecosystems and ultimately the health of the communities in the region.

Fracking the Beetaloo will not only have immediate impacts on NT's environment, but ongoing impacts that will be felt long into the future. This climate bomb could increase emissions by up to 117Mt a year—up to 25% of Australia's annual emissions. As the climate crisis worsens, we need to be doing everything we can to protect our environment. This means not only protecting what water we still have, but also putting limitations on polluting industries that make the climate crisis worse. They cannot be allowed to freely exploit a resource that is critical to survival.

Already, the impacts of climate change are being felt in the NT, with visible impacts on water resources in this generation. I want to thank the delegation of Traditional owners who visited Parliament earlier this year, to tell us about the impacts of fracking on their country. They said:

"We know this planned gas fracking will make climate change worse. We know if this fracking goes ahead we may not be able to live on country like we have for thousands and thousands of years. We need your help to keep our culture, our water, our climate and our children's futures safe."

Our water, our land, our climate is all inextricably linked. If we wait any longer to implement an expanded water trigger, fracking could result in irreversible over-extraction of water, compounded by worsening climate impacts in the region.

This Bill does nothing more than implement commitments already made by the Albanese Government both at the election and in their Nature Positive Plan. The NT Government has also agreed to implement all the recommendations of the NT Fracking Inquiry conducted by Justice Pepper, one of which was an expanded water trigger. Considering the NT has now lifted their moratorium on fracking and the water trigger is still not in place, the Senate Inquiry into the Beetaloo Basin recommended its implementation by 31 December 2023—little more than two months away.

With broad support across the Parliament, we must urgently act to pass this Bill and implement an expanded water trigger before commercial fracking gets the green light and irreversible damage is done.

Now more than ever we need to be listening to First Nations voices when it comes to protecting our environment. This Bill is an opportunity to protect our rivers, aquifers and wetlands and the communities and culture they sustain.

With the Government already committed to the reform now laid out in this Bill before the Senate, there is nothing standing in the way of the implementation of an expanded water trigger by the end of this year. The ball is in the Government's court, and we look forward to working cooperatively with them to ensure the urgent passage of this Bill.

I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.