Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about the EPBC report that was conducted by Mr Samuel, the former ACCC chief. We know that our environment is under serious threat. While the recent bushfires have been overshadowed by the health and economic crises that we're currently facing, they were an undeniable sign of the extreme pressure our environment is under. This is an issue that many of my constituents in the seat of Adelaide have contacted me on and care deeply about, and I believe that's the case not just in my seat of Adelaide but around Australia. I've received hundreds of emails pleading for the government to do more to protect the environment. Today, I wish to echo their pleas. The Morrison government must listen and it must start taking the recommendations of the Samuel interim review of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act seriously.

Once every 10 years the EPBC Act is reviewed. These are our federal environmental laws and they underpin Australia's entire approach to protecting the environment. The review is being undertaken by former ACCC chief Graeme Samuel, and the government has now released the interim report and recommendations. In an interview on the ABC, Professor Samuel stated—what he said is very disturbing—that our current laws are ineffective, complex, costly to business and provide little benefit to the environment. He also stated that over the 20 years since the act has been in operation our environment has been in a state of steady decline. This is not only because the EPBC Act fails to achieve its environmental outcomes, but—in Professor Samuel's own words—it in fact 'impedes appropriate business development' as well.

This review is the perfect opportunity for us in this place and for the government to take stock and ensure that our laws are working in the best possible way to protect the environment, our wildlife and, of course, that they are supporting businesses at the same time.

Most of the environmental challenges facing us are rooted in these laws: inability to offer protections or stop the destructive impacts. For example, since the laws were introduced in 1999 we have not been able to stop even one animal from moving closer to extinction. In fact, Australia currently has the worst rate of mammal extinction anywhere in the world. We are the first country to see a mammal become extinct due to climate change. What's more, the EPBC laws don't even mention climate change. These are shameful messages that we have, and we are able— (Time expired)