Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

The government won't be supporting the amendments, and I'll go through, in turn, the different issues and the information that I've been provided with.

Firstly, with respect to forestry, our intention, as the Minister for the Environment and Water has stated, is that we will apply the national environmental standards to regional forestry agreements under which native forestry occurs. Work on how to implement that commitment is ongoing. With respect to land clearing prior-use and continuous-use exemption, we have contained our amendments primarily to those recommended by the Samuel review. I know there are many people and organisations who are very passionate about this matter, but that is not something we are contemplating in the bill.

With respect to the second sheet of amendments—first of all, amendments (1) and (5)—we are not supporting these amendments. In crafting the reforms, we've looked to three key pillars, all aligned with the Samuel review. One of these pillars is more efficient and robust decision-making, and one of the core recommendations of the Samuel review was to reduce duplication between state and territory and Commonwealth processes. This is an amendment that would maintain duplicative processes. Any bilateral agreements or accredited processes will have to meet our strong national environmental standards.

With respect to the remaining amendments on the second sheet, which go to national environmental standards, the government is not supporting those either. The minister of the day will have the capacity to make standards but will only have the capacity to make standards if this bill is passed. Reforms will allow the environment minister to make national environmental standards. The standards will set clear and enforceable expectations for regulated activities under the EPBC Act. If a proposal is inconsistent with these standards, it won't be approved. This will deliver improved environmental outcomes, provide certainty and guidance for business, and uplift the quality and consistency of decision-making.

Standards will protect the environment. Standards will give businesses clear rules. Standards will help decision-makers be fair and consistent. The individual standards will be made as legislative instruments following the passage of this package of bills, which will create the new standards-making power. The government has made clear that its priority standards are matters of national environmental significance, offsets, First Nations engagement, and data and information. A prescribed consultation process will need to be followed before making a standard, and these are disallowable instruments.

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