Sad day for environment as COAG trashes federal protections

The Tasmanian Greens today condemned the Commonwealth, States and Territories for agreeing to substantially weaken environmental assessments through the signing of Tony Abbott’s one-stop-shop approvals process at COAG.

Greens Environment spokesperson, Cassy O’Connor MP, said the natural environment and communities would ultimately pay a heavy price for today’s kowtowing to the big end of town at COAG.

“With the signing of today’s bilateral agreement, there will no longer be the necessary rigour applied to assessments of the environmental impacts of major developments, in Tasmania, or nationally.”

“This is a devastating development for threatened species, habitats and ecosystems as well as communities and individuals who will be affected by a fast-track, politicised approval process in the future.”

“Now State Governments headed up by either of the major parties will be able to give developers exactly what they want – an easy ride.”

“It is further disappointing to see Labor here, in SA, and the ACT so quickly joining with Tony Abbott to trash the 30 year-old federal safeguard, established when Bob Hawke intervened to save the Franklin River.”

“This also contradicts the position taken by federal Labor who joined the Greens in the Senate this week calling on all states to abandon this destructive plan for EPBC approvals bilateral agreements.”

Text of Australian Greens’ Motion supported by the Federal ALP in the Senate, 11 December 2013:

Senator Waters: To move—That the Senate—
(a) notes that:
(i) only Australia’s most precious places, species and ecosystems are protected by our national environment laws, namely the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act),
(ii) each year only a limited number of developments across Australia – projects that will significantly impact on these nationally protected places, species and ecosystems – need to seek approval under our national environment laws,
(iii) assessment bilateral agreements can streamline environmental assessment processes without compromising environmental protections, and
(iv) a recent inquiry by the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee looking at whether the Federal Government should be prevented from handing its EPBC Act approval powers to state governments found:
(A) there was no compelling evidence to show how an approval agreement would improve business efficiency, and
(B) that it is not appropriate for the states and territories to exercise decision-making powers for approvals in relation to matters of national environmental significance; and
(b) calls on the Federal, state and territory governments of Australia to:
(i) ensure that final approval decisions for projects significantly impacting species, ecosystems and wilderness places protected under our national environment laws remain with the national environment minister, and
(ii) abandon any plans to progress approvals bilateral agreements under the EPBC Act.
Cassy O’Connor MP Greens Environment spokesperson