Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Financial Services) Share this | Hansard source

The Great Barrier Reef is under unprecedented threat. Australia has the highest loss of mammal species of any nation in the world. The Tasmanian devil is threatened. Our koala populations are in decline. More and more of our coastline is subject to erosion. The Murray-Darling River system is in crisis and many of the towns, particularly in the southern states, are in decline. Levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere continue to rise. In the local community that I represent, Yarra Bay Beach in Botany Bay is under threat and the marine habitat is under threat from a proposal by the New South Wales government and cruise ship operators. Under the Morrison Liberal government, the polluters are in charge and the environment is in decline. It is our kids who will pay the cost.

In June of this year the government released the independent review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act conducted by Professor Graeme Samuel. It paints a sorry picture of the state of environmental conservation in Australia. In the opening paragraphs, it says:

Australia's natural environment and iconic places are in an overall state of decline and are under increasing threat.

It goes on to say:

The impact of climate change on the environment is building, and will exacerbate pressures, contributing to further decline.

And:

The EPBC Act is ineffective. It does not enable the Commonwealth to effectively protect environmental matters that are important for the nation. It is not fit to address current or future environmental challenges.

This comes on the back of a damning Auditor-General's report into referrals under the EPBC Act, and that's the subject of this motion. Under that Auditor-General's report, we've seen a 510 per cent increase in the average delays for approval decisions since this Liberal and National government was elected. A 79 per cent increase of approvals assessed were noncompliant or contained errors. We've seen conflicts of interest that aren't managed. Reporting arrangements are not consistent with the EPBC Act, and projects or environmental outcomes are not being monitored.

The report reveals the extent to which this government's cuts to the environment department, which are estimated to have been 40 per cent since 2013, have smashed the department's capacity to make good, timely decisions that create jobs and protect our national environment. We are seeing this locally in the community that I represent. Yarra Bay, the last remaining tract of original beach that is left on the northern side of Botany Bay is now under threat from a proposal from the cruise industry and the New South Wales government to build a cruise terminal at Yarra Bay. To do so they would need to dredge the day, risking a seagrass sanctuary that's just beginning to take off again in Botany Bay. The weedy sea dragon and pygmy pipehorse, which are threatened species in that area, would again be at risk from this proposal. There is significant Aboriginal cultural heritage. It's an important traditional fishing site. Yet these issues are considered last by the New South Wales Liberal government and by the Commonwealth Liberal government. Under these governments, the environment comes last. Aboriginal heritage comes last. They're putting the business case first. They're putting the interests of polluters first. As Professor Samuel said, getting the views of First Australians is tokenism and stopping species decline is tokenism.

Thankfully, the Yarra Bay proposal is on hold due to COVID-19. But we anticipate that it will come back under this Liberal government because the polluters are in charge. The government now wants to introduce a new bill, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Streamlining Environmental Approvals) Bill, which ignores some of the recommendations of the Samuel report, particularly in relation to national environmental standards. This bill would devolve environmental assessments and approvals to the states and territories. Devolve Commonwealth responsibilities to the Australian people, particularly our kids, to conserve the environment and put in place a framework that protects our environment.

See this speech in context