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Open Letter to Federal Parliament on Proposed New Environment Laws
Federal Labor has recently introduced a set of new environment laws that they have promised would address the problems with the current laws.
The problem is, instead of fixing our broken environment laws, Labor’s proposed changes take us backwards.
Labor is shaping up to sell out communities by handing key decisions on the impacts of coal and gas fracking on our precious water back to state and territory governments who’ve shown they can’t be trusted to do the right thing.
The laws will also cut communities out of having a say on projects, whether it’s coal and gas mining, renewables or critical minerals, by creating a ‘streamlined assessment’ that removes community consultation and ensures approval within 30 days.
We don’t want this law to get through the parliament as currently drafted! It’s going to leave regional and remote communities at the mercy of the mining industry. This could pave the way for fast-tracked fracking.
Open Letter
To All Federal Parliamentarians:
Australia’s natural environment is in deepening crisis. It needs more care and attention in decision-making, not less! And Australians need more say in protecting water and the land we love, not less!
However, the proposed environment reforms currently before Federal Parliament will take us backwards.
These laws put at risk our most precious landscapes - from the unique majesty of the Kimberley in Western Australia, to the mighty Pilliga Forest in NSW, the magnificent Roper River in the Northern Territory, and our national foodbowls on the Darling Downs and the Liverpool Plains.
We cannot accept laws that:
- Would allow the Minister to hand power over the fate of precious water resources and other nationally significant decisions to state and territory governments;
- Will create major corruption risks and integrity issues by giving the Minister broad discretion on just about everything - mining companies will be able to go looking for ‘special deals’ all the time.
- Will cut communities out of having a say, by creating a new lightning-fast pathway to approve any kind of highly damaging project in just thirty days with no public comment at all;
- Will create sweeping powers for the Minister to ignore national standards, conservation “no-go” zones and any other environmental protections;
- Will prevent consideration of the impacts of downstream greenhouse gas emissions and climate change impacts on the environment, even as extreme weather and worsening floods and fires wreak havoc on our people and our landscapes.
These proposed reforms should not be passed in the current form.
They represent a missed opportunity to require thorough assessment of impacts on cultural heritage, to prevent corruption in decision making through proper community merits appeal processes, and to create upfront protections for nature.
We are calling for all Parliamentarians to vote against these reforms, because they will undermine our communities and remove our rights to participate in decision-making that affects us, whist putting our precious water, wildlife and landscapes at risk.
