Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move amendments (1) to (3), as circulated in my name, together:

(1) Schedule 2, page 13 (after line 24), after item 9, insert:

9A Before section 74B

Insert:

74AAA Meaning of unacceptable impact on a matter of national environmental significance

(1) An action would have an unacceptable impact on a matter described in column 1 of an item of this table if the action would have an impact described in column 2 of that item.

Note 1: The matters in column 1 are matters protected by a provision of Part 3 (see section 34).

Note 2: For item 2, the National Heritage values could be Indigenous values or non-Indigenous values. The National Heritage place could be an area in respect of which Australia has obligations under Article 8 of the Biodiversity Convention.

(2) In this section:

critical to the survival: a habitat is critical to the survival of a species or ecological community if the habitat is necessary:

(a) for activities such as foraging, breeding, roosting or dispersal; or

(b) for the long-term maintenance of the species or ecological community (including the maintenance of species essential to the survival of the species or ecological community, such as pollinators); or

(c) to maintain genetic diversity and long-term evolutionary development; or

(d) in the case of a species—for the reintroduction of populations, or for the recovery, of the species; or

(e) in the case of an ecological community—for the recovery of the ecological community.

register of critical habitat means the register kept under section 207A.

viability: a species or ecological community is viable if the species or community:

(a) is sufficiently abundant and diverse to sustain the full range of biological and ecological functions necessary for their long-term persistence and adaptability, including the ability to respond, recover or adapt to fluctuations or perturbations in the environment; and

(b) is not declining in the wild.

Determining viability includes considering cumulative impacts and impacts arising as a consequence of climate change.

(2) Schedule 2, page 14 (before line 1), before item 10, insert:

9B Division 3 of Part 9

Omit "Minister" (wherever occurring), substitute "CEO".

(3) Schedule 2, item 181, page 32 (after line 10), after the definition of staff of EPA, insert:

unacceptable impact has the meaning given by subsection 74AAA(1).

These amendments are important to ensure we do not waste communities' time and to ensure the proper protection of the environment. The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act is an act that needs structural reform urgently. I was here in this parliament when the Samuel review was handed down, and there was an outcry at the coalition's lack of motivation to put some proper protections in. Unfortunately, despite many promises and commitments, we have not really got that increasing protection yet, even with the legislation that we have before this House, so I share the frustrations of many other environmental public interest groups.

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