Simon Kennedy (Cook, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

We must balance the economy and the environment. The member for McNamara previously said that his side is allowing debate on the Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025 and related bills, and I thank him for that. But our environment deserves more than slogans; it deserves action that's practical, balanced and accountable.

In the electorate of Cook, we know this better than most. From the seagrass beds of Botany Bay to the dunes of Cronulla, our community treasures its coastland and its bushland. We see firsthand what happens when environmental policy loses touch with local realities and industry. Yes, we want policies that protect our coastline, not bureaucracy that strangles investment or paralyses progress, and we certainly don't need another 1,500 pages of red tape from a government that's all talk and no delivery. I remember Winston Churchill once said, 'This report, by its very length, defends itself against the risk of being read.' Well, this 1,500-page bill, by its very length, defends itself against the risk of being read. That's unfortunate, because, right now, this government has actually alienated both industry groups and environmental groups, and that's hard to do. Trying to ram through this bill, all 1,500 pages of it—something that the parliament cannot possibly engage in, in such a short time—without proper consultation with either industry or environment, is actually hurting democracy and risks hurting the environment and hurting industry.

During the last term, the environment minister promised to deliver a full overhaul of the EPBC Act by the end of 2023. The environment minister missed that deadline, and, nearly two years later, we're still debating a bill riddled with uncertainty.

Industry and environmental groups alike agree that this bill fails both business and the environment. It won't—

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