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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-06-21 Daily Xml
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Environment Protection Bilateral Agreement

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:38): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation questions in relation to the Environment Protection Bilateral Agreement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: On 9 December 2013, the federal Minister for the Environment, the Hon. Greg Hunt, announced the federal government's intention to develop a bilateral agreement with South Australia under section 45 of the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1991 to ensure an efficient, timely and effective process for environmental assessments. On 3 July 2014 in this place the minister stated:

The South Australian government's consistent position…has been that it supports accreditation of South Australia's environmental assessment and approval processes, as the objectives are to reduce red tape and deliver a streamlined regulatory environment and to ensure a high standard of environmental outcomes are maintained.

The minister went on to state:

…the Premier has recently written to key industry stakeholders committing this government to continuous improvement in this area of reform.

Last week the federal Labor Party announced its intention to unwind this important work if it were elected to government on 2 July. As part of Labor's announcement it is stated that it 'will not support handing approval powers under the EPBC Act to state and territory governments'. My questions to the minister are:

1. Does the government stand by its support for accreditation of South Australia's environmental assessment and approval processes under the commonwealth act?

2. Has the minister had any communication with his federal counterpart as to why federal Labor lacks confidence in the South Australian Labor government's capacity to provide a one-stop shop for environmental approvals?

3. Can South Australia afford to miss this opportunity to reduce red tape and deliver a streamlined regulatory environment?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (14:40): The commonwealth government has declared that it will reduce environmental red tape through the creation of a one-stop shop for state and federal environmental approvals via the state system. That is all well and great if they can deliver on their promises. To deliver this one-stop shop, of course, the commonwealth government has proposed a staged approach to accreditation, which includes the signing of the memorandum of understanding to map out the process and what part it is expected to achieve, an update or expansion of the current assessment bilateral agreement, and an agreement on an approval of bilateral agreement within 12 months.

That memorandum of understanding between the South Australian and the commonwealth governments was signed by the Premier at the Council of Australian Governments on 13 December 2013. I understand that MOU is up on the commonwealth Department of the Environment's website.

The assessment bilateral agreements, signed in 2008 and updated in 2014, will allow actions requiring assessment under the commonwealth's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. For some development acts—the Development Act 1993 and the Mining Act 1971—the process says 'to be assessed through relevant accredited state assessment processes'. The commonwealth Minister for the Environment will use assessment information from the state assessment process to make a decision under the EPBC Act. The commonwealth government released a draft conditions policy for public consultation, which closed on 15 May 2015.

The final agreement, the agreement notice signed by the commonwealth Minister for the Environment and the report on comments and the statement of reasons are available, I am advised, on the commonwealth's Department of the Environment website. I do thank the honourable member for his question because it gives me some leeway to actually answer the question about who lacks confidence in whom. The South Australian government is committed to the protection of environment and making good environmental policy decisions based on sound and rigorous environmental science, in complete contrast to the federal government. This commitment has enabled the state to be a leader in the fight against climate change—again, in complete contrast to our federal government.

We have shown that it is possible to reduce emissions in the state and maintain growth in our economy; for example, emissions in South Australia are 8 per cent lower than 1990 levels, while the economy has grown by over 60 per cent over the same period. While the South Australian economy transitions to a low-carbon future, nothing can be said about the federal Liberal government's commitment—or even other Liberal state governments.

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink: It's got nothing to do with the question.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: It has everything to do with the question, and if the honourable member would like to bide her time she will understand why it has everything to do with the question. The Liberals, whether federal or state, are not interested in the environment. The Liberals do not give a fig for the environment. They talk about valuing jobs and growth, change and stability, and a transitioning economy, but they don't want to talk about climate change because they are well and truly beholden to the global warming sceptics lobby. They are a signed-up partner—the Liberal Party—to the global warming sceptics lobby. It is in this kind of climate that federal Labor has announced its election policy to push environmental approvals back to the federal government.

It is not that the federal Labor Party has a lack of confidence in the state Labor government: it is that they have a lack of confidence in all the Liberal governments, federal and state, because their record is abysmal. They want to chip up the Great Barrier Reef and send it offshore, because that's their only trick.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: They want to convince the United Nations: 'There's nothing to see here; the Great Barrier Reef's in great shape.' That's the Liberal policy: don't look over here about our environmental disaster waiting to happen. And that is because of the federal government's lack of action on climate change. That's their problem, the Liberals are not committed to any action on global warming, and they are not committed to action on the environment. In fact, it has everything to do with the lack of trust the community has in Liberal Party in government be it state or federal. They have absolutely no commitment to environmental policies.

Millions of Australians fear the damage a Liberal federal government can do to our country's environment. The Australian Labor Party shares this concern. It is in response to the country's scepticism about the Liberals that federal Labor has made this policy decision. Let me run past some of the failures of the Abbott and Turnbull Liberal governments in relation to climate change, and I am not even starting to talk about the environmental degradation that has happened under their purview and their watch.

Under the federal Liberal government, Australia has moved from fourth to 10th in the Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index. Australia has moved from fourth to 37th in the Global Green Economy Index under the federal Liberal government. We have moved from third to 13th on the Yale Environmental Performance Index. By the way, as a point of information, this Yale Environmental Performance Index has been labelled by the Liberals as the 'most credible index' there is. So Australia has moved from the third to 13th on the Yale Environmental Performance Index which the Liberals themselves label as the 'most credible index' there is, with a specific ranking of 150th in relation to climate change.

The Abbott and Turnbull government attacks on renewable energy have seen 2,500 jobs lost in the sector and investment down by 88 per cent. That is their commitment to tackling climate change. Emissions from the electricity sector have jumped by almost 10 million tonnes under the federal Liberal government. In 2014-15, emissions rose for the first time since 2006-07, the last time there was a Liberal government and when Malcolm Turnbull was environment minister.

Australia's largest energy and emissions market analyst, RepuTex, has confirmed that under the federal Liberal's direct action policy carbon pollution levels from Australia's biggest polluters will increase by 20 per cent by 2030. I could go on.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: And the honourable member opposite asked me to, so I shall. The Abbott-Turnbull Liberal government has also dismantled the climate commission. They have attempted to scrap the independent Climate Authority. They have succeeded in having the Climate Authority's respected and well-regarded chair, Mr Bernie Fraser, step down. They have undermined the renewable energy target threatening South Australia's investments and jobs. They have desperately tried to abolish ARENA and the Clean Energy Financing Corporation, and they have cut the jobs of hundreds of scientists in the climate change research at the CSIRO.

As with climate change, the Liberals have caused significant damage to one of the country's greatest gems, the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef ecosystem on earth and one of the best-known marine areas in the world, and yet Malcolm Turnbull and the Liberals have absolutely no respect for that reef. Climate change is the greatest threat to the health of the Great Barrier Reef. I think we can all at least agree on that. We know what the Liberals think about climate change: they make claims that they have made the biggest ever investment in the Great Barrier Reef but this is all just spin and dodgy figures. All we see from the Liberals is them trying to hide the truth, avoiding the science, disrespecting Australians, and the 70,000 people who rely on the reef for their jobs and their livelihoods.

However, federal Labor has committed to working with the Queensland government and stakeholders to implement the recommendations of the Great Barrier Reef Water Science Task Force report. Federal Labor's plan to protect the reef has three pillars: research, investment and preservation, and ongoing management into the future. Federal Labor does not shy away from the science, unlike the federal Liberal Party. Instead, the reef will be protected based on the latest specialised science. Federal Labor will direct the CSIRO—because they will save the CSIRO—to conduct reef-specific science, including climate research supported by a $50 million targeted funding boost I am advised.

All this shows that the Australian people have a right to feel suspicious about Liberal governments, whether they are state Liberal governments or federal Liberal governments. As I said earlier, I am very grateful to the Hon. Mr Wade for giving me the opportunity to expose how much suspicion there is about Liberal governments and their handling of the environment. That is why federal Labor have taken this position, not because they do not have confidence in the state Labor government but because they have no faith in the Liberal Party being champions of the environment in this country.

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