Staying with Environment Minister Murray Watt and EPBC reforms, the minister this morning said that the focus of ongoing discussions was ensuring reforms strike a balance between development and the environment.
Pressed on whether productivity or environmental protection was the guiding principle for the reforms, Watt said:
“I don’t think we need to be locked into a sort of binary choice between development or the environment. Most of the decisions that I’ve made… since coming into this job have been about ensuring that we do deliver the housing, the energy, other environment, economic gains that we need, while also protecting the environment and applying strong conditions.
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“So I’ve said all along, since taking on this role, that I see these reforms as a package deal. It’s not only about delivering environmental gains. You actually can put in place a system that delivers stronger environmental protections and quicker approvals for housing and renewable energy,” Watt told the ABC this morning.
Watt has previously said the government was determined to finalise these reforms by the end of the parliamentary sitting year, however conceded this morning that there were “still a few items that we are consulting on and settling our decision on”.
He did not indicate when the government expects the reforms to pass. It relies on support from either the Greens or the Coalition in the Senate, given Labor does not command a majority in the upper house.
“There is quite a lot that we have reached a decision on, and now we’re consulting people on parts of the draft bill but there are still a few items that we are still consulting on and settling our decision on,” he said.
The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act was created by the Howard government in 1999 and successive governments since then have tried to reform it, but each has failed due in part to opposition from industry. Reforms are, however, urgently needed, as Australia suffers one of the worst records for wildlife loss.
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