Environment Minister Murray Watt has said he is “very confident” the government can pass its environmental law reforms to be introduced to federal parliament today, but said the passage is a question of whether the Coalition or the Greens will come to the table.
“The broader community, the business community and anyone who cares about our environment recognises that after all of those attempts to get this done, it really is now or never. If we ever want to pass these reforms, we’ve got to get moving with them,” Watt told ABC Radio National this morning.
“We can’t let this go around in circles for five more years because every time we wait and every time we get delayed, we see the environment suffer, and we see really important housing, renewables and other projects get held up in red tape.”
Environment Minister Murray Watt. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Labor has the capacity to pass the bill in the House of Representatives, with its 94-seat majority. However, it must negotiate with either the Coalition or the Greens for the bill to pass the Senate. The Greens argue that the legislation does not do enough to protect the environment, while the Coalition says it will be a handbrake to business, meaning that concessions will be needed to pass the laws.
Watt said the bill strikes a balance, with project approvals under the policy balanced. “If someone wanted to mine under Uluru, or if someone wanted to clear habitat in a way that was going to drive a species to extinction, I think most Australians would accept that those kind of activities simply should not occur,” Watt said.
“So [the legislation is] a way of protecting our environment from unacceptable actions. But it’s also really important for business as well, because you may have heard a lot of business figures say that they want quick yeses and quick nos. This allows business to know up front what sort of projects are likely to get a quick no, and they shouldn’t even bother racking up the millions of dollars in time that’s involved.”
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