The Lock the Gate Alliance has welcomed a commitment from the Australian Greens to the establishment of a National EPA, part of the Alliance’s Water4Life index, and urges all political parties to cooperate to deliver decisive action to meet the country’s major strategic challenges in water and energy.
“A commitment from the Australian Greens to press for the creation of a National EPA is a good first step. Australia is sorely lacking coherent nation-wide protections for water resources and the other environmental values that underpin our wellbeing and our prosperity" said Alliance spokespesron and National Coordinator, Phil Laird.
“A country like Australia should have a well resourced National EPA, backed with legislation to protect clean air and water, and the landscapes and food-producing lands that enrich our country is a must-have this Federal election" he said.
“We’ve seen the degradation that coal and gas mining can do, not just to water resources and landscapes, but to our very democracy. The Lock the Gate Alliance, with 82% of Australians, would like all political parties to work together to create a corruption watchdog to defend the public interest.
“The future of our energy industries, the future of our water resources, these are national interest matters and matters of grave strategic importance. We’d like to see them treated with more seriousness by the major parties.
“The ABC’s Q and A program in Tamworth last night revealed some of the depth of community anger and frustration at the failure of current laws to prevent coal and gas mining from degrading farmland, bushland and water resources.
“We’re yet to hear a full response from the major parties to our Water4Life election challenge, but they’ve got three more weeks to go and we’ll keep pressing their feet to the fire to show them just how important this is to people in our network.”