Carol Berry (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I was extremely fortunate to grow up in the magnificent Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. During my childhood I spent countless hours with my parents and sisters bushwalking, camping or just being outdoors in nature. These experiences cultivated in me a lifelong love of nature and a deep desire to protect it. Australia's national parks, rivers, creeks, beaches, forests and incredible wildlife and landscapes are so unique and breathtakingly beautiful. It's never been so important for us to act swiftly to protect our natural environment, and I've heard from thousands of people in my electorate asking our government to act decisively to protect nature for current and future generations.

Labor has delivered all of Australia's major environmental reforms. This includes the establishment of Landcare, saving the Franklin River, protecting the Daintree and Kakadu, protecting the Great Barrier and Ningaloo reefs, building the largest network of marine parks in the world and taking meaningful action to address climate change.

As the member for Whitlam, I'm particularly proud of Gough Whitlam's legacy in relation to environmental conservation. The Whitlam government was one of the first governments in the world to support and ratify the World Heritage convention in 1974. This was a seminal moment which confirmed the role of the Commonwealth government in protecting the immense natural and cultural heritage of Australia. Whitlam recognised that protecting the environment was part of a global responsibility that required courage and leadership on the part of the federal government.

This leadership role was confirmed when the Hawke government stopped the damming of the Franklin River in Tasmania in 1983. This was a defining environmental decision that cemented Australia's commitment to safeguarding wild rivers and World Heritage landscapes. This landmark decision also set an important precedent for the leadership of the federal government regarding environmental protection and enshrined in the Australian consciousness that some places are too precious to lose.

Since Gough Whitlam—and for every Labor prime minister since—protecting the environment has been core to Labor's promise, and we owe gratitude to these former leaders for their foresight and courage. I'm therefore proud to be part of the Albanese Labor government and to have the opportunity to speak in support of the Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025 and the suite of amendments to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

Five years ago, Professor Graeme Samuel AC delivered his independent review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act to the then minister for the environment, Sussan Ley. This review concluded that our national environmental law is fundamentally broken and outdated and that it's failing both the environment and business. Professor Samuel laid out a blueprint for reform, and this package is faithful to the review's recommendations. It is not a case of choosing one or the other, the environment or the economy; we can deliver for both. These reforms are underpinned by three key pillars: (1) stronger environmental protection and restoration, (2) improved productivity through more efficient and robust project approvals and (3) greater accountability and transparency in decision-making.

The first pillar, stronger environmental protection and restoration, includes the creation of a new ministerial power to make national environmental standards. These standards were the centrepiece of the Samuel review, and they set the boundaries for decisions to ensure they deliver improved environmental outcomes. Importantly, they also provide certainty and guidance for business by setting clear and enforceable expectations and uplifting the quality and consistency of decision-making. The Samuel review stressed that reforms to the law must not just protect our precious natural environment but also restore it. That's why, under these reforms, projects will be required to avoid, mitigate and repair damage to protected matters wherever possible. Any residual, significant impacts on nationally protected matters must be fully offset to achieve a net gain for the environment. This is an important improvement on the existing policy of no net loss.

The reforms will also clearly outline in legislation what is an unacceptable impact on the environment. The new definition of 'unacceptable impact' is specific to each protected matter. This will set clear and upfront criteria for impacts that cannot be approved unless the project meets the national interest test. It will increase transparency, consistency and certainty of decisions and provide a safeguard against impacts that cause the irreversible loss of Australia's biodiversity and heritage. There will be higher penalties for the most significant breaches of environmental law as well as environment protection orders for use in urgent circumstances to prevent and respond to major contraventions of the law. Overall, the reforms under the first pillar deliver more protection for the environment and, importantly, also focus on restoration and recovery.

The second pillar underpinning these reforms relates to productivity and efficiency. The system requires navigation of multiple assessment and approval processes across federal, state and territory jurisdictions. This creates lengthy delays while delivering no benefit for the environment. Central to the Samuel review were recommendations around reducing duplication between state and territory processes and Commonwealth processes, and this package of reforms seeks to improve the operation of bilateral agreements with states and territories, making the framework more responsive to change and more durable in the long term. Another way in which productivity will be boosted is through a new streamlined assessment pathway.

This significantly reduces the assessment timeframe for proponents who provide sufficient information upfront and design their proposals in line with the environmental requirements and other requirements of these reforms. The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water has calculated that the streamlined assessment pathway reforms alone will deliver annual savings of at least half a billion dollars and potentially up to $7 billion to the national economy. The bills before the House adopt Professor Samuel's recommendation that the EPBC Act should include a specific power to be used in rare circumstances that are in the national interest for one minister to make a decision that is inconsistent with the national environmental standards. Any such decision would be accompanied by a statement of reasons which includes the environmental implications of the decision.

The third and final pillar of this package enshrines greater accountability and transparency in environmental decision-making. The key to achieving this outcome is the establishment of Australia's first national environmental protection agency. This will be a proud Labor legacy, delivering on our election commitment. The new National Environmental Protection Agency will be a strong, independent regulator with a clear focus on ensuring better compliance with and stronger enforcement of Australia's new environmental laws. The reforms also introduce new emissions disclosure requirements that require major emitting project proponents to disclose estimates of scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions as part of gaining federal environmental approval. Proponents will be required to disclose their plans to reduce those emissions and explain how those measures are consistent with government laws and policies.

Since winning government in 2022, the Albanese government has passed strong laws to enforce big polluters to cut emissions so Australia gets to net zero carbon pollution by 2050. We've committed to 82 per cent renewable energy electricity by 2030 and approved 111 renewable energy projects, producing enough electricity to power more than 13 million homes. We've protected an extra 95 million hectares of Australian ocean and bush and expanded marine parks around Macquarie Island as well as the Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, increasing the proportion of Australia's marine waters under protection to 52 per cent. We've invested over $600 million to better protect our threatened plants and animals and tackle feral animals and weeds that are devastating our native species. And we've increased funding for national parks and Indigenous rangers.

Under the Albanese government, renewable energy generation has reached new Australian records, up in volume by around 30 per cent since we came to government and reaching 46 per cent of the national market at the end of 2024. Last month, around half of all electricity in the national grid came from renewable sources, the highest monthly rate on record. On 11 October, for part of the day, nearly 80 per cent of electricity was generated by renewables. We are making strong progress to deliver 82 per cent renewable electricity by 2030, driven by our Capacity Investment Scheme, our Rewiring the Nation Fund and our Cheaper Home Batteries Program.

I've outlined just the highlights of the Albanese government's environmental achievements. The Environmental Protection Reform Bill, combined with a range of amendments to the EPBC Act, will build on this legacy by delivering reforms that benefit both the environment and business. These reforms incorporate a balanced package featuring: (1) stronger environment protection and restoration laws that won't just deliver better protections for our environment but restore and regenerate these special places for future generations; (2) more efficient and robust project assessments and approvals that allow us to better respond and deliver on national priorities, like the renewable energy transition, a Future Made in Australia, and the housing we need; and (3) greater accountability and transparency in decision-making to give all Australians confidence in these laws.

These reforms are long overdue. They're in the national interest and they are firmly in the spirit of the Samuel review. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build on Labor's legacy by reasserting the federal government's leadership role in protecting our shared heritage and placing the protection of the environment at the centre of our decision-making, not just for our generation but for generations to come. I commend this package of reforms to the House.

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