The Federal Government has caved in to pressure from the mining industry and is effectively dropping major reform of our national environment laws in this term of government, despite promising to rewrite the laws and halt extinctions.
Instead, all they are doing now is establishing two new environmental agencies - the Environment Protection Authority and Environment Information Australia. The Government has put forward three related ‘Nature Positive’ Bills to establish the agencies, and the Senate Environment Committee is holding an inquiry into them right now.
Can you make a submission to the Senate Inquiry this week, using the key points we’ve provided below? There’s just one week to make submissions which are due on the 15th July.
Submissions must be uploaded to the Senate Committee site. The Committee site also contains a link to the three Bills.
It’s crucial for the Inquiry to hear that creating two new bureaucracies isn’t going to do anything to protect wildlife, water or our future from new and expanded coal and gas, and that we need major reform now to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Below are some tips for you to make in your submission, plus some additional background on the government Bills.
TIPS FOR WHAT TO SAY:
In your own words, tell the Senate Committee about any experiences you or your local group has had with the EPBC Act and why you want strong, decisive environment laws that give the public a voice.
Below are some additional specific points that might be helpful for you in drafting a submission.
General points to make
- There are 59 coal and gas projects, and 148 proposals that clear koala habitat going through the EPBC assessment process now. These will proceed unless the EPBC is strengthened substantially now.
- The Government promised to overhaul our environment laws. This promise must be kept. Bending to pressure from the WA mining industry is unacceptable - there is no time to waste to protect our climate, water and biodiversity.
- Having an EPA will not change the trajectory of decision-making under our current laws, which were brought in by John Howard and which lead to approval for 99% of projects. Having the EPA ‘enforce’ broken laws won’t protect our environment either.
Major amendments needed now
Some of the key weaknesses in the EPBC Act 1999 can be fixed with amendments to these Bills. The Bills should be amended to:
- Finally implement an effective ‘climate change trigger’, which requires the decision maker to consider total lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from a project and their impact on the Australian environment.
- Improve integrity and accountability by prohibiting political donations from project proponents and providing rights for communities to challenge the merits of decisions in court;
- Provide upfront protection for irreplaceable habitat by deeming clearing of habitats that are critical to the survival of listed species and ecological communities defined in Recovery Plans or Conservation Advices as an unacceptable impact;
- Substantially strengthen protections for First Nations cultural heritage and cultural knowledge and enable free, prior and informed consent
Specific problems with the Bills as drafted
- The Nature Positive (EPA) Bill does not include an independent board for the EPA. Instead the agency will be run by a CEO who is handpicked by the Minister. To ensure independence the EPA should have an independent board of directors.
- Schedule 12 of the transitional provisions Bill includes an effective ‘fast track’ for projects by only allowing the clock to be stopped on decision timeframes to require more information if the proponent agrees. This fast track should be removed.