Former Independent Member for New England Tony Windsor has called on the Albanese Government to abandon plans to devolve protections for water to the states as part of its environment law reforms.
The Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, if passed in its current form, would remove provisions that ensure big coal and gas projects that are likely to have a significant impact on water must have a decision made on whether they can proceed by the Federal Government - a process which has become known as the “water trigger”. See background.
Instead, the Bill if passed would allow decisions under national environment laws on large coal and gas projects to be made by state governments.
Mr Windsor was instrumental in the introduction of the water trigger during the final days of the Gillard Government in 2013.
He said, “Water is a national asset which transcends state boundaries. This is why we really need a law at a national level that recognises this.
“Given the states are financial beneficiaries of a lot of extractive projects that impact water, it’s unlikely they would bother to give due scrutiny to this precious resource, if those decision-making powers are handed back.
“The cumulative impacts of developments on the landscape and particularly water has the potential to impact many people who have nothing to do with the project, be they neighbours or those who live downstream. That is why it’s so important that these decisions must be made at a federal level.”
ENDS
Key provisions of new laws that allow the water trigger to 'devolved':
For specific provisions - where the current section 29 specifically excluded the water trigger (s24D and 24E) from accredited approvals those sections are removed by these provisions.
For example, current s29 says - "1) A person may take an action described in a provision of Part 3, other than section 24D or 24E, without an approval under Part 9 for the purposes of the provision...." if there is a bilateral approval agreement in place.
Those exclusions for 24D or 24E are not included in these new reforms. Para 77 in the reform Bill removes the provision which says 'other than s24D or 24E' from s29, and therefore, it allows water trigger projects to be taken without an approval where there is a bilateral approval agreement in place.